Harry Potter and the Unintended Sacrifice
by Fairytale Dreamer
Summary: As his 5th year ends, Harry discovers that he is able to stay at Hogwarts for the summer. However, he is haunted by a dream and is desperate to know where Voldamort is. When he finds out a mysterious girl is also there, he is led into another adventure.
1. Summer at Hogwarts

It was dead silent in the Forbidden Forest that night. Harry looked around and saw no one. He inched forward, wand at the ready. Then suddenly, a great red spark barely missed his left shoulder.

Looking out through the trees, he saw _him_. Voldemort walked with a terrible glide towards Harry, declaring, "I missed you on purpose, Potter. I want the great Harry Potter aware that I am about to get rid of him forever!"

Harry prepared to block his curse. However, Voldemort was too fast for him. With a flick of his left hand, Voldemort cast Harry's wand away from him. Harry ran for the wand, but tripped over a large root coming out from the great tree behind him. He quickly looked up and saw Voldemort laughing, still at a distance, but ready to finish him.

"Now, Potter, I will dispose of you in a very extraordinary way!"

Then, the wizard known as Lord Voldemort raised his wand and uttered words Harry had never heard before. "_Percoma-toramos!_"

A great green flash left his black wand, heading straight for Harry's forehead. Instinctively, Harry screamed out into the powerless night.

"Harry! Harry! Get up!"

Harry, screaming, fell out of bed, hitting the floor hard. He got up sluggishly, holding his head where his scar was.

"Harry, are you alright mate? You were screaming in your sleep." Neville said puzzled.

Harry looked around their dormitory. Ron was still asleep surprisingly. But then suddenly, he woke up in a fit as well.

"The spiders! The spiders are back!" He proclaimed.

"You're fine Ron; they've gone to the girls' dormitory." Neville lied.

"Oh, good." Ron yawned as he looked out the window.

Harry saw that it was morning, and they had to get ready for their classes. He went to get dressed when Neville came over to him again, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," Harry shrugged off what could have been a vision, "Just a nightmare."

"Well, it must have been _really bad_." Neville said aloud to himself as he walked out of the dorm.

Later, Harry dragged himself into the Great Hall, his brain fried. He put his books down across from Hermione and Ron, sighing.

"How'd your last O.W.L.'s go?" Ron asked.

"Horrible," Harry admitted, rubbing the sleep form his eyes, "I'm sure I bombed the Potions exam; I didn't get enough sleep last night."

"It's because of that dream, isn't it?" Hermione assumed.

"How'd you know about that?" Harry wondered.

"Neville told me; he was worried about you. What happened in your nightmare to cause you to scream like that?"

"You were screaming?" Ron asked.

However, Harry didn't want to tell them. He knew he'd only worry them. He'd tell Dumbledore about it later. So now, he said, "Oh, I just was dreaming about Dementors; when they were here two years ago. But it's alright; it was just a dream."

"Oh," Hermione replied. She wasn't satisfied with his answer, but she knew he wouldn't tell her.

"Dementors," Ron commented, "They gave me chills in a bad way. And you dreamed about them? Blimey, makes me kind of grateful to be having nightmares about spiders!"

Hermione shook her head and paid no attention to him, "You better not have failed Potions Harry. Cause if you do, you might have to stay here!"

"What?" Harry wondered.

"What in the bloody Hell are you talking about?" Ron questioned.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him, "There's a rumor going around that if some 5th years fail certain O.W.L.'s, they have to stay here for the entire summer to be tutored on that subject!"

"Stay here all summer? God, now I hope I failed!" Harry exclaimed enthusiastically.

A while later, it was the last week of the trio's 5th year. The Daily Prophet had come out with the article about declaring Lord Voldemort was alive and very dangerous. And just as this was all happening, the O.W.L.'s scores came out.

Ron sighed with relief, "I passed all my exams! Now I can go see Charlie in Romania this summer. It should be wicked!"

"Oh no!" Hermione gasped.

"Let me guess, you didn't get a perfect score." Ron hunched.

"You're exactly right! I got five points off on my potions exam!"

"At least you didn't _fail_ your potions exam," Harry muttered.

"What? You failed?" She asked, sympathetic.

"Yeah, but it's cool. I get to stay here all summer long; instead of going back to the Dursleys. Its more like a dream really!"

"Uh, I don't think so mate." Ron added.

"What do you mean? Why is that a bad thing?"

Hermione and Ron exchanged looks, and then she told him, "Well, if you're staying to be tutored in potions; don't you think that you'll have your favorite teacher who is the head of the potions department-"

"Severus Snape!" Harry groaned. He cursed under his breath. He couldn't believe this! First, Sirius was murdered at the Ministry of Magic. Now, he had to be under the critical eye of Snape for the entire summer. Harry felt as though he could die.

"Come on mate, let's go outside and get some fresh air. We'll get your mind off of this whole Snape business." Ron tried to make him feel better, but it didn't help.

They went out to the courtyard, and eventually, Harry did feel better. He talked with Hermione and Ron for a while, with many people coming up to them to ask about their amazing heroism against the Death Eaters. But, as soon as someone brought up Sirius, Harry snuck out of the crowd. He couldn't bare talk about it; it was too painful. Sirius was the closest thing he had to family. And now, he was gone.

Just then, Harry saw his dreaded enemy, Draco Malfoy, just twenty feet from him, laughing at something. He couldn't really see what, since Malfoy's back was to him, as well as Crabbe's and Goyle's. But just then, Crabbe moved out of the way. What Harry saw made him very angry.

Malfoy and his posse were making fun of a poor girl. She was sitting on a stone bench with a stone-like face on as well, ironically. She had olive skin with long brunette hair down to the middle of her back. She wore ten tiny braids perfectly equal to each other around her head. She had on an outfit that would cause anyone to look at her funny. She wore a tan sweater jacket covered with small pink and orange flowers that extended to her knees. She wore a loose brown shirt under it and had faded ripped green jeans on. She wasn't ugly; she just had odd style. Her figure was fair, but not the gorgeous type.

Just then, he saw Malfoy take a letter out of her hand and proclaimed as loud as he could, "Oh, it looks as though she's got a love letter! Who's it from huh? Is it from your invisible boyfriend? Or perhaps it's a ghost; maybe the ghost of-"

But before Malfoy could finish, she stood up and snatch the letter from his hands. As she walked away, Malfoy mocked her even more, "Fine! You better walk away! Oh! But watch out! You could trip over your invisible boyfriend!"

The girl didn't flinch; she just kept walking away from them. Harry looked back at Malfoy, who was laughing with his gang hysterically, "What a barmy girl she is! Glad she's not in Slytherian; cause if she was, I'd have to come up with this crap all the time!"

Harry was raging now; but just before he took a step towards them, something remarkable happened.

Malfoy's nose and mouth began to turn orange. They stretched out and came together. Then, his arms began to grow wide and turned white. Crabbe and Goyle watched with horror as his arms turned into feathers.

Soon enough, Malfoy had a beak and wings for arms. He tried to talk, but only cheeped when he tried. He flapped his arms at Crabbe and Goyle to help him, and they directed him with great difficulty to Madam Pomfrey's.

As they walked out of the courtyard, everyone laughed at the chicken Malfoy was revealed as. Harry laughed and looked out of the corner of his right eye. Curiously, he saw the same girl Malfoy had picked on walking away, noticing that she was fitting her wand back into her pocket.

Hermione and Ron came up to him in hysterics. Still puzzling, Harry asked, "Do you guys know who that girl was that Malfoy picked on?"

Ron had tears running from his eyes, and didn't have the breath to answer he was laughing so hard. Hermione shook her head and took a breath, "I do. She's a 5th year, and a Gryffindor. I think her names Dolphin."

"Dolphin?" Harry couldn't believe it.

"Oh, I don't know! She doesn't talk to anyone; but it's something like that."

"Uh, sure." They headed inside to great some grub, but Harry couldn't stop wondering about that girl Dolphin or whatever.


	2. Professor Who?

While at dinner, the final mail call came flying through the open windows. Students everywhere caught their letters from their owls. Hedwig flew down and perched on Harry's shoulder as he opened his letter. It was a dark purple letter with a golden Hogwarts seal on it.

As Harry opened it and began to read, Hermione asked, "What is it?"

"It's the notice for failing my Potions exam. It says here I have to report to Dumbledore's office this Friday, the last day of school. I'll receive further instruction on what I must do while I stay here."

"Does it mention Snape at all?" Ron wondered.

"No, it doesn't actually." Harry puzzled.

"Well, don't hold your breath! I'm sure you'll have to follow him around all day and rearrange his entire potions cabinet or something!" Ron joked.

Harry threw the letter on the table and rested his head on the edge of it, "God this sucks!"

At the bus station that Friday, Harry went to see Hermione and Ron take off. He hugged each of them sadly; disappointed he wouldn't be able to see them until the next term.

"It'll be alright Harry; you can send us letters with Hedwig. We'll still talk!" Hermione tried encouraging him desperately.

Ron patted him on the back, "Yeah. And hey, maybe Snape will be nice and let you have a few days off to come and visit us at the Burrow!"

Harry looked at him sourly, "Snape's never nice!"

Ron and Hermione exchanged looks. They looked back at him and said, "Bye Harry; see you in three months!"

They went and jumped on the train before he had anytime to say anything. He sighed as the train geared up and slowly began to leave. He turned around slowly, sad he would be all alone. And it was only the first day; Friday.

"Oh crap!" Harry shouted to himself.

He began running back towards the castle. He had forgotten his meeting with Dumbledore.

A while later, Harry was panting in front of the eagle at Dumbledore's office. He went up the stairs and stopped in front of the headmaster's door to catch his breath. Just then, he heard Dumbledore talking to someone inside.

Harry quickly recognized Snape's sly voice, "Are you sure about this headmaster?"

"Of course Severus; I have complete confidence in our student. I believe that they will do so well that you won't need to stay here this summer. I'm sure you would like some time off after a long year."

"Yes, sir." Snape replied obediently. However, Harry knew that Snape was greatly annoyed by this.

Harry grinned widely. Snape was leaving! He wouldn't have to sit around with him all day. But, who was going to tutor him?

Suddenly, the door swung open, and Snape came walking out. He paused when he saw Harry.

"Mister Potter; how nice to see you eavesdropping outside your headmaster's office!"

But Dumbledore intervened, "Its fine Severus. You may go. Harry, would you please come in here?"

Snape gave Harry a nasty look before he went down the stairs and out of his life for the summer. Harry felt as though he was walking on air.

Entering the office, Harry noticed Dumbledore was admiring Fawkes, his beloved phoenix. Harry came up to him and asked, "You wanted to see me sir?"

"Yes Harry," Dumbledore went and sat down in his chair, "Please sit."

He did as he was told. Then Dumbledore went straight to the matter at hand, "It seems because of your exam scores you will be staying here for the summer. Is that right Harry?"

"Yes sir." Harry sighed.

"Harry, I must tell you something. Yes, you did fail your Potions exam, but that is not the sole reason I am keeping you here."

"What do you mean?"

"You see, because of what happened at the Ministry of Magic, and the prophecy, I feel it is safest to keep you here at Hogwarts. I figured you wouldn't mind staying instead of going back to Pivet Drive, I imagine."

"No kidding," Harry muttered under his breath.

"But still, you did fail your Potions exam, so you will be tutored and retested while you are here this summer. However, you will not have to be cramped in a room all day. You may go anywhere on the campus. But, as the rules are during the year, you must stay in your dorm room at night. I cannot stress this enough."

Harry nodded. What would he do around the campus in the middle of the night anyway?

Then, Dumbledore stood up and led him to the door.

"I must be leaving now. I'm going to be gone for a few weeks on business. But don't worry, Hagrid is here; as well as Mr. Filch. Some other professors will come and go throughout the summer. Oh, and the elves that work in the kitchen live here as well, so you will still have food in the great hall waiting for you whenever you like."

He and Harry walked down the stone steps and out of Dumbledore's office. Curiously, Harry asked him, "But sir, what about my tutoring? Who will teach me?"

"Oh yes! I nearly forgot! You will begin this coming Monday. You will meet in the Dungeon at 9 o'clock in the morning, I believe."

Dumbledore turned and began walking again. Harry rolled his eyes and followed him still, "But sir, who is-"

"Miss Waldgrave will be your tutor for the summer. I believe you will find her very insightful. She is very knowledgeable about potions; in some ways, she is better at it than Professor Snape. Now, I must be leaving you Harry. I promise I will be back in time to celebrate your birthday. See you soon Harry!"

Dumbledore took off down the right hallway. Harry watched him leave, puzzling to himself, "Waldgrave?"

He had never heard of that professor before. So, he decided he could find out more from Hagrid, and went off down the left hallway towards his cottage.

"'Ey 'arry! You startin' off your summer session okay?" Hagrid asked as he let Harry in for a pot of tea.

"It's fine. I'm kind of bummed I won't see Ron or Hermione until school starts up again though."

"Oh, you'll be alrigh'. 'Ey! You can come down here and help me with the new creatures I'll be catching for the upcoming year! It'll be nice to have the company."

Harry sipped his tea, lacking enthusiasm for the dangerous creatures he would probably end up helping catch that summer. With the pause, Harry thought it was the perfect moment to ask Hagrid, "Umm, could you tell me what you know about…Waldgrave?"

Hagrid spit his tea out of his mouth suddenly. Quickly, he covered his reaction up with, "Sorry, the tea's too hot."

Harry nodded and waited for him to answer. In his face, he could tell Hagrid was reluctant to talk, but did.

"Well, he's been known for lots of-"

"Wait, you mean she?" Harry interrupted, "Isn't my professor a she? That's what Dumbledore said."

"Oh, yeah! Your tutor!" Hagrid looked very relieved when he said that, "Yeah, I don't know her very well; she don't talk much to anyone. I think the only person that can really carry on a conversation with her is Dumbledore. I wouldn've known she could teach potions if he hadn't of told me!"

"Yeah, Dumbledore mentioned she was better than Snape."

Hagird chuckled, "Yeah, I be' Snape sure likes tha'!"

"So, what do you think she'll be like? Will she be really strict and keep me in the dungeon all day, every day?"

"Uh, I don' rightly know 'arry."

"Maybe you could talk to her; I wouldn't want to miss out on helping you with the creatures!" Harry would rather suffer injuries from some mystical thing instead of doing potions all day.

Hagrid looked at him funny, and then laughed, "I'm sure _she_ wouldn't want to keep you from helpin' me, I imagine. I dunno, she seems like she'd be nice. But someone like tha' is probably very…odd. Harry, I suggest you treat her very kindly. Have lots of respec'; you don't want to…"

He trailed off. Harry watched the look on Hagrid's face mold to look as though he was about to let out a great secret. So, he cleared his throat and looked out the window, "Oh! It's almos' sunset! Better get goin' 'arry! Filch would get me in trouble if he knew I kept you out here after dark when you should be inside havin' dinner with the rest of the 5th years!"

Harry stopped in his tracks on his way out and turned to Hagrid, "Hold on, what?"

Hagrid hurried him out anyways, and told him, "Yeah! You didn't think you were the only one to fail an O.W.L. did you? I don' think any Gryffindors here for the exams; but I do know what there are some from Hufflepuff and Slytherin. However, they are only staying for three weeks. Since Dumbledore wants to keep a close eye on you, you have to-"

"-stay here the whole summer; I know!" Harry grumbled.

He started up the hill grumpily; but Hagrid tried to tell him something else, " 'Arry! Don't be expectin' any of your friends either!"

"I already got that since I'm the only Gryffindor!" Harry mumbled to himself.

But as he sat down at his table in the Great Hall, Harry quickly realized what Hagrid meant. He meant that he wouldn't have _any_ friends, but only his sworn rivals. Or rival. Over at the Slytherin table, Harry saw Draco Malfoy joking around while Crabbe and Goyle laughed with food stuffed into their mouths.

Harry tried not to watch them while he ate. But it wasn't long until Malfoy spotted him and came over with his hoodlum friends behind him.

"Well well, look who's here for the summer! Fail an exam have we Potter?"

Harry dropped his fork and looked up at the annoying pest, "I'm not the only one that has, obviously. What'd you fail Malfoy? History of Magic I'll bet!"

Crabbe and Goyle exchanged worried looks then. Harry noticed this and grinned. Malfoy frowned angrily and turned to leave. He hit the two idiots on his way. Harry laughed to himself and went back on eating.

Walking the hallways back to the dorm, Harry felt dreary looking around at the empty rooms he passed by. He sighed as he rounded the corner, only looking at the trails of the ground.

And of course, he bumped into somebody as he turned that very corner. He didn't even bother looking up when he saw their books on the ground. He began to pick up their papers and apologized in a monotone voice, "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."

The person didn't respond, but only took the papers awkwardly from his hands. They quickly began to walk away before Harry looked up. He turned around when he didn't hear a response and could see tiny bouncing braids go down the hallway. Then, as she turned to go down another hallway, the girl from the courtyard looked at Harry. They exchanged an awkward moment of silence; the girl didn't from at Harry, but she didn't smile either. Then, as though she realized something, she disappeared down the hallway.

Very confused, Harry went to the Gryffindor corridor: wasn't he the only Gryffindor there?

Later that night, Harry awoke from the same horrible dream he had the other week. He took some water and went to sit at the window. The campus was awfully quiet tonight. He looked up at the stars with the Astronomy tower in sight. They were all out tonight; it was very beautiful.

But just then, Harry saw flashes of light coming from the Astronomy tower. He watched, but could only see the pink and green flashes. After a few minutes, they stopped altogether. But before he went back to bed, he could see someone holding a lamp.

It was obviously Filch. Harry could see him look around, and then, he left the tower and all was quiet again. Harry waited to see if the flashes would come back, but they didn't. Giving up, he went back to sleep. Little did he know, not but ten minutes after he went to sleep, the flashes of light began again.

The next morning, Harry ran to the dungeon to make his first class. He burst through the door. He looked up at the pedestal and saw no one was there yet. Relieved, he went and took a seat. But then, he heard the sound of scribbling.

Turning to his left, he saw the same girl with the ten tiny braids from the other night. She was sitting down in one of the seats, writing. Harry watched her for a moment, and then cleared his throat to make himself known.

The girl looked up at him with the same look as she had on last night. He was about to ask her if she was taking potions too, when she said, "Sorry, I hope you don't mind, I have to finish this."

Harry looked at her odd and replied, "Sure. It's fine."

Not but two seconds later did she put her quill down. She stood up and came over to him, looking at him oddly as well, "Why are you wearing that?"

"Uh," Harry looked down at his uniform, "What's wrong with it? We wore it all last year."

The girl softly smiled and informed him, "For summer classes, you don't have to wear your uniform. I'm not."

Harry tried not to notice it before, but she was dressed unusually again. This time, she had on a bright teal gypsy skirt with a flowered tank top with giant teal jewelry on. She turned and walked over to the cabinet when she saw him gawking at her.

"Umm, are you in potions too?" he asked.

The girl turned to him curiously, "Why would I be in here if I wasn't?"

Harry looked around lost, "Uh, I don't know?"

They stared for a moment, but then she shrugged it off and began pulling out certain vials of ingredients.

Still lost, Harry asked, "Then, do you know when Professor Waldgrave will be here?"

The girl put all the ingredients on the table before him and raised one eyebrow, "Professor Waldgrave?"

"Yes, I thought she was tutoring this class."

The girl put a cauldron on his table finally. She nodded her head.

Getting aggravated, Harry came out with it, "Well, where the bloody hell is she?"

Looking at him peculiarly, "You're staring right at her. And I'm no professor!"


	3. Miss Know It All

Harry took a moment to soak all of this in. He breathed deep and looked at her perplexed, "I'm sorry, what?"

The girl looked away shyly, "I'll be your tutor for the summer."

He still couldn't understand, however, "But aren't you a 5th, or I'm guessing a 6th year now, like me?"

The girl nodded her head, "I finished 5th year potions last summer. I took 6th year potions this past year. And I'll be taking 7th year's potions when school starts back up. So, I can help you with a lot of the material you missed."

"Er," Harry had no idea what to say. First of all, he felt like a retard because he'd be tutored by a girl his own age. And it wasn't just any girl; it was _this _girl. She was a weird girl that never talked to anyone. When Malfoy finds out, he'll make fun of him twice as much. What will people say next semester?

Thousands of thoughts were going through his mind when, "So, why don't we get started? Umm, I thought we could go from A to Z in the potions you need to know. With that in mind, we'll begin with the Amortentia potion. Are you familiar with it at all?"

Harry was drawing a blank, "Does it cure a wolverine bite?"

The girl shook her head timidly, "It's the most powerful love potion in the world, as far as we know. It causes the drinker to become desirable to anyone who catches the scent. Alright, let's start!"

Hours later, Harry entered the Great Hall and had dinner. Afterwards, he went back to the Gryffindor common room. When he entered, he spotted his tutor studying a book intensely in one of the armchairs. He kept his face low and his eyes away from her, hoping she wouldn't pipe up and give him an assignment or something.

However, when he reached the stairs, he realized he hadn't heard a word. Hiding within the staircase, he watched the girl read. He was about to head upstairs when she got up. She tucked the book under her arm and took a look around the room. When her eyes closed in on where he was, he hid.

After a moment, he looked back to find her leaving through the portrait. Quickly, he ran upstairs and grabbed his cloak and followed her. He had no work to do, so why not see what she was up to? And if it was boring, he could always head down to Hagrid's.

He went through the portrait just in time to see her turn a corner. He followed quickly, and stayed fifteen feet behind her. Suddenly, she paused. Very fast, she turned around, wand at the ready.

Harry wasn't expecting this. Just in case she did something, he moved out of the way of her pointed wand. Slowly, the girl turned back around, stuffing the wand into her beige sweater pocket.

When he realized she was heading for the library, he had a second thought about following her. However, the thought faded when Malfoy came out of it, alone surprisingly.

He saw the girl and grinned, approaching her, "Well hello wacky Waldgrave! What're you doing coming to the library. Need some extra homework assignments for Potter? I bet he can't tell which potion from the next. And it helps having such an advanced tutor at his fingertips!"

The girl was about to speak, but Malfoy interrupted her, "What is it? Oh! I know! You're in _love_ with Potter! Wacky Waldgrave and Pathetic Potter; what a combination! I mean, it's-"

But before he could finish, the girl wrapped her hand around his throat and pinned him against the wall behind him, wand at the ready.

In a completely different voice than the one Harry had heard earlier, the girl harshly whispered to Malfoy, "If you ridicule either Harry or me one more time; I'll do a lot worse than turning you a chicken. And it'll be something you won't be rid of for at least two days! That chicken is child's play compared to what I can conjure up if I _really_ wantedto!"

Slowly, she let go of him, and he began to gasp for breath. Before he ran away like a chicken, she said to him, "Oh, by the way, speak of this to anyone, and I'll make it something cold and slimy!"

Malfoy's face was priceless. Harry tried so hard not to laugh. In a speedy walk, Malfoy escaped the girl's glare. Turning towards the library, Harry heard her mutter, "It's not like you're not already cold and slimy."

Intrigued, Harry followed the girl into the library. She went back to the History in Magic section, and then looked to see if anyone was around. Finding it safe, she whispered a spell aloud and disappeared.

Frantic, Harry looked around, hoping to spot some movement. Luckily, he saw the chain of the restricted section unclip. He followed her into the section, trying not to go in so much that he might bump into her. Then, he saw a book remove from the shelf.

Carefully, he went over to the area that the book's pages were flipping frantically. The girl stopped on a page, but before he could read it, she picked it up and began moving around. Harry jumped back quickly.

Then, a piece of paper revealed out of mid air, as well as a wand. Setting the book back down, the girl muttered a spell to quiet for Harry to hear. Afterwards, Harry saw a most amazing thing. The girl's wand was pointed on the blank paper, but when she cast the spell, the page in the book copied onto the paper.

Hastily, the girl shut the book and put the paper and wand away. She put the book away; just a Harry read the side of the band, which read: _Defense against the Dark Arts, Level 12_.

Suddenly, they both heard Filch's voice approaching. Harry quickly got out of there; seeing the chain becomes locked again as he left. He stopped once he was outside the library.

He looked around, but couldn't see her anywhere. But then he realized she was still invisible and hit himself in the head. Harry tried to listen for the sound of feet, but had no luck in locating her whatsoever.

So, accepting failure, he headed back to the Gryffindor dorm. Taking off his cloak in his room, he had a thought. He grabbed his potions book and sat in a burgundy armchair in the common room. And so, he waited, and waited, and waited. For a moment, Harry thought she had already come back and went into the girl's dorm. But he wasn't sure, and from the look her saw on her face when she was heading to the library, he knew she was up to something. Something she wasn't supposed to be doing that summer.

Yawning, Harry kept looking blankly at the pages of the potions book. It wasn't long until he found himself snoring in the common room. Then, the nightmare came.

Tossing and turning in the armchair, Harry could hear the eerie voice in his head, "Now, Potter, I will dispose of you in a very extraordinary way!"

Then, Voldemort raised his wand and uttered the words Harry had never heard a wizard use, "_Percoma-toramos!_"

A great green flash left the Dark Lord's black wand, heading straight for Harry's forehead. He could feel it burning harder and more painful than ever before in his life. Then suddenly, like the dream it turns out to be, the pain is gone and Harry is awake.

However, he found himself not where he was when he went to sleep. He was on the floor, a good five feet from his armchair. Harry looked up into amber eyes. It was Waldgrave. He could tell by the way she dressed that she had just gotten in from wherever she wondered off to.

Giving him a drink of water, she asked him, "Are you alright?"

He nodded quickly, "I must've dozed off while preparing for your potions lesson!" He tried to act casual, but from the look on her face, he obviously had made a fit.

She looked over at his book on the chair, and then back at him, "I didn't know you were _that_ frightened of Potions! Harry, when I came in, you were on the ground shaking and screaming."

Harry got up from the floor and gave her the goblet of water back, "It's nothing. It's only happened a few times-"

"A few!" she interrupted, "Harry, you've had this nightmare, whatever it is, before?"

Harry went over and picked up his potions book, "It's fine, don't worry about it. I'll talk to Dumbledore when he comes back."

He began walking up the stairs to the dorms, but the girl persistently followed, "Harry, Dumbledore won't be back for two weeks. This could get a lot worse if we don't do something about it now!"

Then, something inside of Harry snapped, "And you know about this too? Bloody hell, you just know anything about everything don't you? Well, I'd rather deal with this on my own; I've dealt with worse things at this school without someone telling me what to do!"

Without letting her speak, Harry turned left and went into the boys' dorm, slamming the door. The girl's eyebrows narrowed, and she went down the stairs, leaving the common room again.

The next day, Harry was hesitant about heading to the potions' dungeon. Finally, after much debate, he showed up ten minutes late. She wasn't there. He wasn't surprised. However, on the front table he found a caldron and an open potions' book. Looking over the page, he grinned and got to work.

Two hours later, Harry was almost complete with his potion. Turning blue, he knew it was ready. He filled a few bottles full of it to use for later. Then after cleaning up, he shut the page of the book that read, _Dreamless Sleep Potion_.

That night, Harry was eager to try his potion out. So, he took a sip from one of the bottles and went to bed. The potion worked so well that Harry forgot to wake up the next morning for Potions class.

Seeing the time, Harry dashed to put on some scruffy navy jeans and a green shirt. He ran towards the stairs, but as he came towards them, his untied shoes caused him to trip all the way down.

Finally stopping when he hit the bottom, he struggled to get up and out of the common room. But as he did, he heard a voice, "I don't need to teach you how to stop clumsiness, do I?"

He looked up at Waldgrave, who was sipping pumpkin juice in an armchair. Harry got up and tried to explain, "I'm sorry I'm so late, I was-"

"Snoring louder than a giant? Yes, I know." The girl leaned over and took a muffin from her plate, "I could hear you all the way from the girls' dormitory. Obviously, that potion worked wonders on you."

"Yeah, it was really helpful," He commented.

The girl smiled and offered him a chair, "Come have a muffin. Since you did such a good job on the sleep potion, I figured I'd reward you with a day off."

Harry couldn't believe his ears, "Really?"

The girl nodded, "Go off and do what you like; we'll start again tomorrow on some really fascinating potions."

The girl got up and began to walk back to the stairs. But, Harry turned in the chair and said, "I'm sorry, about the other night. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. Even if you are my age, you still know a lot about potions."

Suddenly, the girl grew her shy look as she had before, "It's fine. Don't worry about that. I've had a lot worse said to me."

She began walking up the stairs, but Harry got up, "Wait; at least let me make it up to you."

The girl turned and tucked her long straight hair with a braid behind her ear, "How?"

It was a beautiful summer day outside. The lake was clear blue, just like the sky. Cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and the grass felt softer than cotton. Harry walked along with Waldgrave, who had taken off her brown sandals and was enjoying the warm summer breeze.

"We should definitely have a few classes out here during the day." She said smoothly.

Harry looked around and nodded. Then, he looked at where she was, but found her gone. Seeing a great oak tree, Harry spotted her running towards it. He slowly followed her there, and sat down with her.

"I love staying here during the summer; you get to enjoy the beauty of the countryside." She remarked in awe.

Curious, Harry asked, "I'm guessing you live in the city with your family?"

The girl's eyes seemed to turn cold almost when he mentioned those words, but she didn't let on to it, "Yes. We actually live near Diagon Alley. You'd think it's a great place to live, but it's actually a very rough place around it. I always tried to convince my parents to move out into the country, but they had to be close to work."

Harry asked even further, "Do your parents mind you staying at Hogwarts year-round?"

He could tell she was very stand-offish when she answered him, "No. This place is a lot nicer than my house. Besides, my mum thinks its good that I'm here with Dumbledore. She says it's safer with him around."

Harry was going to ask her more, but Waldgrave made sure she spoke first, "What about you? Where do you live?"

Sighing, Harry was reminded of the Dursleys yet again, "I live with my uncle and aunt with their son on Pivet Drive just outside of London."

"You don't sound too happy about that." The girl commented.

Harry grinned a little, "Let me put it this way; I'd rather live in a dark hole in the cold ground than with them. Horrid muggles!"

He skipped a rock out across the smooth surface of the lake. Looking back at the girl, he saw her holding her silver necklace.

"May I see that?" He asked.

She placed the pendant in his hand and let him study it. It was black onyx that had silver initials reading, A.W. Then, he turned it over and saw that the back was a completely different stone. It was an amethyst with silver initials on it reading, D.W.

Curiously, he asked, "What do these stand for?"

After a few moments silence, she said, "The onyx is my father's initials, Astin Waldgrave. And the amethyst is mine."

Harry suddenly realized: he didn't know her first name! He felt like a complete idiot. He didn't know whether to ask her or to find out from someone else. Nervously, he just stared out at the green trees along the mountainside.

The girl smiled to herself. Then, she turned to Harry and stuck out her hand. Harry took it, a little confused. When he shook it, the girl grinned and said, "Let me introduce myself. I'm Delphine Waldgrave. It's nice to finally meet you Harry."


	4. Things Forbidden

"Whoa!" Delphine gazed at Harry's cloak, amazed at its ability, "I've heard these existed, but I never saw one before!"

"How could you? The people wearing them were invisible!" Harry teased as they left the common room.

"And, your father gave this to you?" she asked as they snuck down the hallways.

"It was given to me during my first year here. But yes, this was his."

Harry stopped talking after that. Delphine could tell right off he didn't liking about his parents, so, she got onto another topic, "You know, you never told me where we were going tonight. So, where are we going tonight?"

They stopped just before the courtyard outside in the pitch black night.

Harry unfolded the cloak and explained, "I was talking to Hagrid today; he said he needs some help with some creatures he's capturing for the upcoming semester."

Delphine looked a little nervous, "Hagrid? I dunno Harry; I'm not really a 'people person'. Hell, I still have a hard time talking to you!"

He looked back at her surprised; he'd always figured that boys were always nervous around girls, not the other way around. Still, he shrugged it off and wrapped the large cloak around them both.

Delphine grabbed onto her side, accidentally bumping into Harry. They looked at each other for a split second, and then began to run across the lawn. After the long way down the hill to Hagrid's, they were soon knocking on his door.

After a couple knocks, Hagrid answered with lots of rope piled over one shoulder, "'Ey Arry! Yer on time!"

Harry took the rope from Hagrid and turned to Delphine, "Thanks Hagrid. This is Delphine Waldgrave; she'll be helping us tonight."

Hagrid shut the door behind him and bent over far to shake the girl's hand, "It's nice to meet ya Miss Waldgrave! I 'ear yer teachin' 'Arry 'ere a great deal about potions!"

Delphine shook his giant hand shyly and squeaked, "As much as I can Professor Hagrid."

Hagrid laughed as they followed him around to the back of his bungalow, "Oh there's no need to be callin' me 'Professor'. Justcall me Hagrid!"

He bent over a giant trunk and pulled out a gallon sized container with bluish-silver liquid inside. Curiously, Harry asked, "What's that?"

Before Hagrid could answer, Delphine stated, "It looks like pelgent-glue. Professor- I mean Hagrid, what are you using that for? That glue is specially made for rare creatures like-"

"Like Erumpents perhaps?" Hagrid said with a grin, "I like this gal 'Arry! She's bright as'Ermione!"

Before they got even further ahead of him, Harry interceded, "Hold on, what's an Erumpent?"

Hagrid chucked the container of pelgent-glue into Delphine's stomach as he walked ahead of them into the Forbidden Forest, "An Erumpent is similar to a rhinoceros. 'Owever, its skin is so thick and strong that any magic 'eading its way will reflect off of it. And not only are its 'orns sharp, but the fluid produced from 'em can make any living thing explode!"

Harry tried to keep all the ropes balanced in his arms, "And we want to _find_ this thing?"

Hagrid stopped behind a great oak tree and lowered to their level, whispering, "Well, they are known to be peaceful creatures. It's only when they're bein' provoked that they're at all dangerous! Besides, I've come into contact with Egbert before!"

Taking the container from Delphine, he mouthed to them silently to stay there. As he went to a plain of grass thirty feet away to lay down the glue, Delphine smiled at Harry.

"He really does love mystical creatures, doesn't he?" she commented in a whisper.

Harry shook his head as he watched his giant of a friend, "More than anything else in the world. If I knew it'd work, I would've talked him out of this before we even came into the woods. But, knowing Hagrid…"

"I understand," she remarked, "Someone I knew was like that. He loved his job; he obsessed over it every minute of every day. Nothing could part Dee from working; not a thing."

Harry watched her face go from memorable, to almost heartbreaking. But, before he had time to comfort her, they both heard an odd noise. It sounded like a deep growl. Frantically, they looked from behind the tree to where Hagrid had been.

He was still there fortunately, but he wasn't alone. He had a great pile of carrots in his outstretched hands and began softly calling to the Erumpent, "Ey Egbert! I've got some nice carrots for ya! 'Arry, as soon as the Erumpent's stuck, you two come out and tie him up good!"

Harry nodded to Hagrid, trying not to upset Egbert. Delphine and he watched as the Erumpent approached the glue spot slowly and carefully. Egbert hesitated, and began drawing back just a little. But Hagrid wouldn't give up; he moved closer to Egbert and encouraged him. Finally, they met in the middle.

However, he Egbert gnawed on the carrots, Hagrid tried to move his feet, but couldn't. Both he and Egbert were stuck in the pelgent-glue.

"Oh no!" Harry whispered. Taking the rope, Harry went out to help tie up Egbert and get Hagrid out of his mess.

But just then, Hagird yelled out, "LOOK OUT 'ARRY!"

Without hesitation, Harry leaped from his spot, losing the rope. When he landed, it didn't take him long to realize that his right arm was stuck a few feet from Hagrid in the Pelgent-glue.

"What was that for?" Harry screamed at Hagrid, trying to free his hand from the glue.

With a look of great terror on his face, Hagrid pointed in the direction of the trouble. Harry's eyes almost popped out of his head. There, only a few meters away from him, was a Lethifold

A Lethifold is much worse than a snake. This one looked about twenty feet long with dark green scales along its back. As it slithered, it made to trail whatsoever. Harry gasped as its mouth opened wide, revealing two more mouths inside the biggest one.

Harry tried to reach for his hand, but his right-hand pocket was too far. He struggled with all his might as the Lethifold charged. But suddenly, Delphine jumped in front of them, holding her wand high.

Suddenly, Harry heard two words he hadn't heard in quite sometime, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A brilliant flash went through the entire forest. Covering his eyes, Harry struggled to see what was happening. Gaining focus, he saw what looked like a phoenix. Looking out ahead of the phoenix, he could see that the Lethifold was quickly retreating away.

A moment after, Delphine's patronus disappeared, and she lowered her wand. There was stillness for a long time.

Afterwards, she quietly cast the spells to free both Harry and Hagrid from the glue. They silently tied up Egbert and dissolved the rest of the glue. Later, after Harry and Delphine left Hagrid's hut, Harry motioned her to get under the cloak as they enter the building.

However, Delphine refused with the shake of her head. Harry sighed and pleaded, "Come on! What are you waiting for?"

But, Delphine gave Harry a look that put all questions and arguments aside. He could tell by her stare that she couldn't go in just yet. So, Harry nodded understandingly, and left her in the courtyard alone.

As he put on the cloak, he looked back at her. He could see her walking over to the gardens, wand in her hand just in case. _She'll be alright_, Harry thought to himself. And he knew she would be; after the performance she put on that night, he could tell there is a lot more to her than meets the eye.

Walking along the tall rose bushes, Delphine looked behind her to make sure no one was around. Quickly, she went to the center of the bushes and stopped in front of the fountain holding a sculpture of the four founders of the school.

Going up to the pool of water flowing from the spouts above, she gripped her wand in her left hand nervously. As though unable to take whatever she was feeling at that moment any longer, she put her wand to her temple and uttered an unknown incantation. Then, a small blue light flashed out of the wand and the pool of water turned a deep silver shade.

In a swift motion, Delphine flicked the blue flash from her temple into the silver pool. The blue faded into the silver, and as she lowered her wand, the silver turned back to the crystal blue water.

Putting her wand away, she looked bitterly into the water. Finally, she walked back into the castle.

Every night, without Harry's knowledge, she came back to the garden and used the pool as a Pensieve.

Then, two weeks later, Delphine left the Gryffindor Tower in the middle of the night.

She tiptoed all the way to the astronomy tower without seeing Mrs. Norris or Filch.

Climbing all the steps, she finally made it outside to the top of the astronomy tower, where she could see all the stars in the sky. Taking a breath of the cool breeze hitting her face, she closed her eyes in delight.

Then, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. It was the same piece of paper that she had copied out of the _Defense against the Dark Arts, Level 12_. For a little while, she sat and studied the paper.

After she was done, she got up and put the paper back into her pocket. Then, she took off her sweater and threw it aside. Her green willow and dragon heartstring was in her hand tightly as she raised it high and commanded, "Waddiwasi!" (A very powerful summoning spell).

With great force, a small purple jar flew toward her at great speed. As it sped towards her, she moved her wand, causing the jar to fall to the ground softly. The lid of the jar opened and out flew a demon beetle (a poisonous black and yellow beetle that can be deadly depending on the bite).

As the beetle began to fly directly towards Delphine, she narrowed her eyes to an evil look with a grin. Again, she raised her wand; but this time, she said something that she had learned from the piece of paper, "CRUCIO!" (The Cruciatus Curse; used to torture and cause great amounts of pain. If a wizard used this on another human, they would be sent to Azkaban).

A great orange flash flew from Delphine's wand. The perfect aim hit the beetle, stopping it all together and throwing it to the ground. It struggled on the ground just to live as Delphine continued to hit it over and over in a constant flash. After a few moments, her eyes turned red and she was consumed in the power of the torturing spell.

Suddenly, breaking her trance, something hit her, causing her to fall. Dropping her wand, she hit the concrete hard. She looked over at the beetle, which was gasping for air on the ground. Then, she was amazed to see it floating into the air, and then put into the purple jar and shut with the lid.

As it fell slowly to the ground, she realized who it was. She grabbed her wand and with a swift move, pointed the wand in a spot and slid the invisibility cloak off of Harry. She lowered her wand and sat up, looking at a very unhappy Harry.

He aimed his wand at her and warned her, "You'd better explain what your doing messing around with deadly spells quick or I'll take you to Dumbledore!"

Dusting herself and getting up, she replied, "Harry, there's no need to be rash! I promise you; I'm not evil!"

Delphine tried to get Harry to lower his wand, but he wouldn't. He moved forward slowly, backing her against the balcony of the tower.

"Then why were you using one of the three most deadly spells known to wizards on that beetle? Practicing for the main event? Ah, it makes sense now! You don't ever talk to anyone; but suddenly you start talking to me this summer. I bet you arranged you being my tutor so you could get close to me; to gain my trust, which you did by saving my life along with Hagrid's! You probably sent that Lethifold on us that night! You're really working for Voldemort! That's it! You're the new henchman for Voldemort!"

By this point, Harry was holding her by the throat with his wand at her head. Becoming enraged by the sight of her, he threw her to the ground. Delphine coughed and gasped for air, looking back up at Harry hopelessly.

Harry looked up at the stars, wondering why he hadn't seen this from the get-go. He'd been played by a teenaged girl. Of course Voldemort knew he couldn't resist the charms of a girl; it was the perfect plan.

Looking down at his supposed enemy, he saw something that he didn't expect. Delphine was letting honest tears drop to the ground. Seeing this, obliviously Harry had rambled on a false accusation.

He began to walk towards her, but she put her hand in front of her to stop him. He froze. Clumsily and frightened, Delphine picked herself up and grabbed her sweater, running inside from the Astronomy Tower.

She didn't deny Harry's accusations or explain herself; but from the look on her face, Harry knew he was wrong.

The next morning, Harry didn't see Delphine in the common room at all. He went to the Great Hall, but she was still gone. Finally, he went to the Potion's dungeon. Inside, Harry saw a cauldron out and a few papers. It was the potion's exam. It had all the directions on there; it read:

_Please fill out the following pages to the best ability you can. Leave the papers here and they will be taken care of. Your score will be posted a week from today._

After the test, Harry looked all over the campus for Delphine. He checked all the classrooms, the library, the courtyard, the lake. She was gone. Days passed and there was no sign of her. Fed up with it, Harry headed for Professor Dumbledore's office.

Bursting through the great door of his office, he went up to his desk very impatient and demanding.

"Professor Dumbledore-" he started.

Dumbledore stopped him before he could speak. Knowing what he was worried about, Dumbledore looked at Harry through his half-moon glasses and said, "You are here because of Miss Waldgrave, are you not?"

"Yes. Where is she?" Harry could care less about lectures now. He had to talk to her.

Rising from his desk, Dumbledore walked around from his desk and looked around his office, "She has taken a week off to go and see her family. Don't worry, she will be back Saturday."

"Oh," Harry wasn't satisfied with this answer, and he felt he had to be honest with someone, "Professor, there's something I have to tell you. It's about Delphine; I think I scared her."

Dumbledore chuckled and replied, "Teenagers these days; the way you act around each other is like ridiculous lost little love-sick puppies!"

Appalled and in shocked, Harry stood up for what he believed, "I am no 'love-sick puppy' professor. I just acted too rash. I wanted to apologize to Delphine. I think she hates me."

"Oh Harry," Dumbledore went to the Hogwarts yearbook section in his office and picked out a book, "She's fine. Don't worry about it; you can talk to her when she comes back. I think you will find in that time, she will open up to you about things."

He opened up one of the yearbooks. Harry saw that it was the book from his forth year; the year he was in the Triwizard Tournament. Dumbledore opened the book to a page and leaned over to Harry, "There is a lot more to this mystery girl than you know about Harry."

Peering onto the page, Harry saw a picture of Delphine in her forth year. He gasped he was so shocked. In the moving portrait, there was a completely opposite Delphine. She had on makeup, her hair was well kept and in big bouncy curls, and she had a big smile. It was obvious from her robes that she was a popular girl, because in every picture he saw she was surrounded with people. And her name was not written as Delphine, it was Dellie.


	5. The Secrets In Pensieves

"_This_ is Delphine?" Harry awed in disbelief.

"Yes, that was Miss Waldgrave. However, she has changed a lot since this picture was taken almost two years ago."

"Two years?" Harry wondered, "How could I not recognize her? I mean, she knew everyone!"

Harry flipped a page. It was numerous pictures of different people. One he saw stood out immensely, causing him to want to gag.

"No! She went out with Willdor Woorden?" Harry disgustedly looked at a picture of Delphine and Willdor, Captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and head boy. He finished Hogwarts this past semester, but Harry could remember how much he despised the stuck up seeker whom all the girls flaunted after.

Harry looked at it all, confused, "I don't understand Professor; she looks completely different. I don't even remember her!"

"No one does Harry. Not really," Dumbledore walked over to his cabinet without saying anything else.

Harry followed him persistent in what this was all about, "What happened to her? Why was she like this? What aren't you telling me?"

Dumbledore waved his hand over the cabinet, opening it, leading to his pensieve, "I will only show you as much as I possibly can, Harry. This is the only thing I believe will help you understand a little better about your new friend."

Leaning over the pensieve, Harry looked into the silver surface. Without fear, he fell down through the silk liquid. Opening his eyes, he found himself in Dumbledore's office, speaking with Cornelius Fudge. Sitting in a chair, a not yet middle aged dark-haired woman with a slim figure and black eyes sat uncomfortably in purple robes, frozen in one spot with her whole body.

Harry looked back to Dumbledore and listened in to what he was saying to Fudge.

"I think it's best if you leave before she comes," Dumbledore told him.

"Alright Headmaster, but just remember that I warned you about this. I knew it would happen." Fudge spoke particularly low, obviously he didn't want the woman to hear.

Dumbledore put a hand up and said calmly, "Please Minister, this will continue at a later date. Professor McGonagall will be here any moment."

Fudge nodded and quickly swiped his wand, causing him to disappear. Just then, McGonagall entered in nice black robes. Harry suddenly remembered when this was. It was Christmas Eve, nearly two years ago. The night of the Yule Ball.

Just then, Harry heard a soothing sound, like a nightingale, "Professor Dumbledore, it's the night of the Yule Ball! What could you possibly want to see me about tonight?"

Harry gazed as Delphine glided into the room. He couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't believe how flawless she was. Delphine's hair had no grunge braids, no strange clothes, and no shy look in her eyes. She looked straight on with her amber eyes, hair like gold in huge curls pulled into a bun with beautiful locks flowing down her back. She wore a shimmering gold dress that went from a tight strapless top to a puffy flowing bottom. And to Harry's lucky surprise, she was smiling brightly and beautifully. Pulling her dress slightly up, she elegantly walked up the steps towards his desk.

Then, she noticed the woman in the chair. For the first time, the woman smiled shyly, "Oh Delphine, you look so beautiful in that gown."

Delphine rolled her eyes and whispered, "Mum, don't call me that! It's Dellie; it's short and cute. That's the way I like it. What are you doing here anyways? I thought you'd be going to India tomorrow morning. And where is _he_? _He_ isn't here is he?"

From the last sentence she said, Delphine's mother turned even more depressed than she was before. She sat back down in her chair without a word. Delphine looked at her confused, then to Dumbledore.

"What's going on Professor? I want to get to the Ball on time. Willdor is waiting for me!"

Dumbledore looked at McGonagall somberly, and then at Delphine, "There is something that I am must regretful to tell you Miss Waldgrave. Please, sit down."

Delphine sat down in the chair confused. Her golden dress puffed up comically. Dumbledore looked her straight in the eyes, and she in return.

"Your father was at his job today. He uh, left abruptly, without anyone's knowledge, and was found in a small village not very far from London."

Interrupting, "What do you mean he was _found_? Besides, why would he leave London? What business did he have at this place? What did he do Professor?"

Dumbledore looked at her, showing the softness of his heart, "Miss Waldgrave, your father was found dead today. He was murdered."

Harry wished that he could make Dumbledore take the words back. But, they were out. It was too late. Delphine didn't say a word. Not one. Harry assumed at this point in her life that was a rare thing. However, her face grew from confused to a face he knew. A face he befriended that summer. The spark she had entered the room with was burned out.

Dumbledore came to her side and bent down to her low level, looking over his half-moon glasses into her sad eyes, "We do not know yet who is to blame for this. But I promise you Dellie, we will."

Looking up from the floor, Delphine's expression changed. She was suddenly becoming enraged, "Don't call me that! Don't call me that stupid name!"

She forced herself up from the chair and ran towards the door. Her mother got up and followed her. Delphine tried to open the door, but the fake nails she had on made it impossible. Her mother was at her side when she was struggling to get out. She kept trying and trying, but the more she tried, the more she cried.

Finally, she gave up and fell to her knees, weeping. Her mother knelt down, taking her daughter in her arms.

Then, a cloud of smoke surrounded Harry, and he was instantly brought back into the present day, in Dumbledore's office. Without a word, Harry began to walk to the door. He paused, reaching the spot he had just seen Delphine crying over her murdered father.

Dumbledore approached him again, putting a hand on his shoulder, "That is all I can tell you about this Harry. I believe the rest of the story should be heard from the one who is looking to you for friendship."

Harry looked at Dumbledore through his half-moon spectacles, seeing that there was no more to say. Taking the doorknob in his hand, Harry left the office, without being able to function in thought to what he had witnessed.

Friday night, Harry was sitting alone in the Great Hall, having dinner. He looked through the yearbooks of his and Delphine's 4th and 5th years. Everything changed between the two books. She was the stuck up good looking girl in his house, dating the upper classmen and gossiping with the horrid girls who thought they were 'the best of the best'. Then, in the 5th yearbook, she was in no pictures whatsoever. The only thing he found on her was a line that read, _High Academic Award for Potions…Delphine Waldgrave_.

Just then, he looked back at the 4th yearbook. He looked onto the same page and it read, _High Academic Award for Potions…Dellie Waldgrave_. That was the only similarity he could find between the two split personalities: potions. She had always been good at potions. Now that he thought about it, Hermione did complain one year about not getting that stupid award; he remembered her saying, "I shouldn't be second best!"

Suddenly, a hand slipped past Harry with one of his cupcakes. He turned around to find Draco eating it. Harry put down the books and sat quietly as they laughed.

"Why the long face Potter? Sad your little girlfriends gone away? Good riddance I say! Don't want her around. I hope she gets what she deserves; just like her old man-"

Quicker than a Horntail dragon, Harry had gotten up and punched Malfoy to the ground, hard. Crabbe and Goyle looked at him in astonishment, not bothering to mess with him. Malfoy's lip began to swell as they dragged him away. Filch quickly came up to Malfoy and said bluntly, "Would you be more careful next time? The Elves just cleaned these floors you clumsy Slytherian!"

Harry was confused, he punched Malfoy, and Malfoy didn't fall on his own. Shouldn't he be in loads of trouble?

Watching the two drag Malfoy out of the room, Harry saw a familiar face. It was Delphine's. She had her wand in her hand, and must've somehow changed what Filch had seen in the nick of time.

Eyeing Harry, she signaled him to follow her. He quickly ran towards her, as some of the kids still in the Great Hall cheered as he left. Obviously, they weren't Slytherians.

Meeting her in the hallway, Harry could only see the weeping girl in her beautiful dress on Christmas Eve. He didn't even know what to say.

Before he tried, she put a finger to his mouth, "Not here, let's go!"

She took his hand and they ran out to the courtyard, down past Hagrid's hut, and off by the wide lake.

Harry looked around and asked her, "What are we doing here?"

Finding her face in the moonlight, Harry's sadness and guilt melted far away when he saw Delphine smiling at him. Without a word, she put her fingers in her mouth and whistled.

Far off, Harry saw what looked like a gray horse, flying in their direction. Its large wings glided through the air, making it easy to approach them with speed. Harry jumped a few feet back when it landed barely missing Delphine. She went up to the winged horse and lovingly grazed her hands over its mane.

Nervous, Harry asked, "Do you know this thing?"

Looking back annoyed, Delphine stated, "It's a Granian. They're winged horses. Not dangerous; but they are wild. However, Rain and I go way back. I first met him when I was eight years old; I used to live out in the countryside with my parents. We'd ride everywhere. And when there was no land to ride on, we'd fly."

Harry grinned at her. Delphine narrowed her eyes suspiciously and asked, "What?"

"Rain?" Harry joked.

"I was eight! What do you expect from a little kid? Anyways, Rainy flies this way during July. I don't know why, but it's nice."

Delphine whispered something into the granian's ear, and then hopped on its bare back, "So, are you coming or not?"

Harry couldn't believe it; it all felt like a dream. With but one hesitation, Harry sighed and jumped on just in time as the granian flew off from the ground. They flew high above Hogwarts, moving eastward past the lake. Harry held onto Delphine tightly when the granian picked up speed. He could tell, even without seeing her face that Delphine was smiling.

Delphine kept her eyes closed as she breathed deeply the summer breeze. No matter what was going wrong with her life, she always found joy with Rain.

The stars shined brightly in the sky; just like diamonds. Harry and Delphine laid on the dew drop grass as Rain drank peacefully from a stream nearby.

"Every time I look up there and see the stars, I always see time as nothing. Up there, there is no time, no present or past, no problems, no pain."

Delphine took her necklace off and lifted the half-onyx half-amethyst stone above her. She twirled it in her fingers, watching it sparkle in the stars.

"I always think of him whenever I look up there."

Taking a chance, Harry nervously spoke, "When did your father die?"

Even though he knew the answer.

Delphine looked over at him, seeing the frightened honesty in his face. Looking back at her twirling necklace, she said, "Two years ago this Christmas Eve."

A silence came between them, and Harry was too scared to break it. But it was broken still, "I see you've talked with Dumbledore."

His stomach in knots, he gulped, "I did."

"Huh," Was all her reply was, "What did he tell you?"

Harry thought nervously, "He didn't. He showed me that night."

"You mean in his pensieve? He must've shown you when I was in his office."

"Yeah, he did."

Delphine laughed to Harry's surprise, "Man, wasn't I a little bitch?"

Even though he wanted to be sincere, Harry couldn't help but chuckle.

Delphine went on, "Did you see me? I was mean? I'm grateful you never saw me when I was around the 'pack', the girls I hung out with. Wow, they were thick!"

Curiously, Harry turned onto his side to face her, "Why were you like that? I've talked with you all summer; you don't seem like the person who would hang out with that crowd or date Willdor Woorden!"

Delphine sighed as she gazed at the necklace still, "I was a completely different person then, Harry. Up until then, all my teenage years I was like that. I met those girls only because I showed up the first day at Hogwarts in my nicest robes and luggage. My family was rich, but I didn't really relish in that until they came along. From being with them 24/7, I got used to curling my hair, overdoing the makeup, and always trying to stay cute. I changed my name that first year to Dellie, well, _they_ did. They said it'd sound better.

"I dated around, but didn't find a guy I really like until 4th year, Willdor. He was cute, popular, but so stuck-up. He thought he knew everything about Quidditch. Boy was he mad when you beat him 3rd year. He constantly talked about it when you turned out to be in the Triwizard Tournament. But anyways, we started dating a few weeks before the Yule Ball. God, I was so excited about the Ball.

"That's all I ever talked about with anyone. Then, the night came. I remember looking at myself in the mirror that night before I went down to the common room with the other girls. I thought, _look at me, I'm beautiful. Finally, I'm beautiful!_

"But, I wasn't happy. I had gone home after the mid-exams were over to visit my parents for a little while since I wouldn't see them until summer. I didn't want to go home at all; none of my friends were. However, my father insisted. Ever since my 2nd year, I wouldn't call him Dad, just Astin. I became angry at him because we had to move closer to his and my mum's work in London. Because of who he was, we had to stay in a ruddy apartment near Diagon Alley.

"Plus, he was out of town almost all the time. Whenever I came home for the summer, he'd only be there for five days total of it. He was always busy, always moving. Didn't talk much even when he was home. Don't get me wrong, I loved him very much. But in my adolescence I was a snob and didn't want to put up with our new situation. And, when I had to be home just before the ball, I finally snapped.

"We yelled back and forth. And it ended very coldly; he wanted his little girl again, and I wanted him to go off on one of his expeditions and never come back. That was the last thing I ever said to him. The next morning I left for Hogwarts without a word to him. The last time I saw him alive was when he was upstairs in his room. He was making something. He put in under a light, making it sparkle. I shrugged it off and left, trying not to be interested in his project.

When I heard the news from Dumbledore, I immediately believed it was my fault he was murdered. I thought that way for a long time."

Still feeling like she wanted to say more, Harry helped her, "What did you do that night?"

Delphine looked up at him curiously. He stated, "The night you found out. What did you do?"

Without word, Delphine got up and went over to Rain. They got on the granian and she whispered something into its ear. Without even seeing them leave the ground, Harry and Delphine were back at Hogwarts.

They got off of Rain and he flew off into the night. Turning away, Delphine walked over to the courtyard, coming up to the Hogwarts statue surrounded by the fountain. Harry felt her soft, cold hand reach for his.

Looking into her eyes, he watched her lips form the words, "I'll show you."

With her wand out, Delphine took out her wand and swished it in her left hand. Once again, Harry dived into the silver pool. Looking over, he could see Delphine was still with him.

Suddenly, he landed on the ground to find he was in a familiar sight; the hallway before the Great Hall. Delphine pointed at the crowd of girls that Harry despised. They moved closer, and Harry could hear what they were saying.

"She's really lost it! I mean, she punched me in the shoulder!" One of the girls said.

Harry looked at Delphine, who replied, "I didn't punch her. She was grabbing my arm and I pushed her hand away from me. She likes to over exaggerate."

But, the girls agreed mindlessly. One of them, in a pink dress accepted it, "Fine! If she doesn't want to be our friend anymore, than good riddance! I can finally be with my love Willdor without her ruining it!"

The girl looked over at Willdor, who was angry that Dellie had stood him up.

Delphine leaned over to Harry, "I found out later that he said that I made him look bad for his 'image.'"

Then, trumpets blew and it was time for the Yule Ball to begin. Harry was about to go in, but then, he saw the shimmer gold run up the stairs. Entranced, he ran up the stairs after Dellie.

She turned a corner Harry had never been down before. And, he abruptly stopped, finding that a wall stood in his way. He looked found Dellie at the end of the corner, holding a tiny bottle in her hand.

Dellie lifted it high, and then threw it at the wall. Suddenly, in a cloud of purple smoke, the wall was gone; Harry could see the entire Great Hall from above. Harry went up next to Dellie, tears running down her face, as she watched the Yule Ball begin.

Still looking at her, Harry then saw two of them. Delphine stood on the other side of her past as Dellie and said, "I wasn't upset that I didn't go. I didn't want to go. It's like, nothing mattered anymore. I wanted life to go on normally, but without me there to put on a selfish act."

Then, all the contestants in the Triwizard tournament entered the room with their dates. And in came Harry, dressed in his tux looking nervous as ever. Harry watched as he tried to dance with Parvati Patil. Suddenly, Harry heard Dellie laugh.

He looked over and saw she was. She wiped away a tear as she watched Harry dance. Harry looked over at Delphine and said, "You _laughed_ at me?"

"No! I thought you were sweet! You were trying so hard to dance with that Patil girl. It was the first time I smiled after I found out."

Harry nodded and looked down at the crowd. Jerking his head back, he repeated, "You _laughed_ at me?"

Delphine rolled her eyes and watched the crowd. Later on, they saw Harry and Ron sitting alone and depressed. Harry saw Dellie, who once again was watching him.

"That whole night, watching them dance, I felt so miserable. But, whenever I looked at you, I felt like somehow, I connected with you. I know it sounds cheesy and creepy, but, I just felt that if I had come up to you that night, and said what was on my mind, you'd understand me."

Harry looked over at Dellie in her golden dress, who was looking at Harry still. Then, he looked at Delphine, and inside, he thought; _now I do_.

Just then, he saw Delphine shake her head, "Blimey, those two are ridiculous!"

Harry looked down below, seeing Ron and Hermione fighting.

"Delphine, let me remind you that those are my friends!"

"No! I know that! I mean, the way they act towards each other! They should just shut up and admit they like each other already!"

Finally, Delphine took out her wand and Harry grabbed her hand. They floated out of the pensieve and landed abruptly in the courtyard. Delphine was holding onto Harry during the fall. But, when they realized they were in each other's embrace, they had a moment of frozen fear. Harry and Delphine looked in each other's eyes, and in a quick flash, they split from each other.

Acting normal, Delphine said, "We'd better head back to the common room before Filch catches us!"

Harry walked along with her, "Right! Well, we could probably just use that wicked spell you pulled on him at dinner to make him see something else! I have to admit, you're really good at spells. Delphine, I know you've been using the school's forbidden books to learn new defense skills, but where did it all come from? Where'd the interest start?"

Turning the hallway, they looked for Filch, and then kept going. At a fast pace, Delphine whispered to him, "From my father. He _was_ an Auror you know!"

Harry froze as she kept going, "No, I didn't!"


	6. Finding Serenity

Entering the Great Hall, Harry took a deep breath in as he comfortably looked around seeing, well, no one at all. Everyone who had to make up their failed courses for the summer, were gone.

Sitting down at the Gryffindor table, Harry put some finger sandwiches and scones onto his plate; happy that he was finally done with Potions. He had just finished taking his Potions' Exam over that afternoon; however, he was disappointed to find out that Delphine was not is proctor for the exam. Professor Snape had been there that afternoon to test him. Nevertheless, Harry did his best and even made Snape raise an eyebrow on all that he had learned from Delphine.

Over the past few days, she had done nothing but help Harry study for the exam. But still, not seeing her in the dungeon this morning and Snape in her place was disturbing. As he sat there eating, he wondered where Delphine was.

However, it didn't take Harry long to figure it out when he felt someone grab his shoulders suddenly.

He turned around to see Delphine smile, hair tied back in a ponytail (but still had the scattered braids in it), light orange sweater and corduroy pants on. She took a seat beside him and grabbed something to eat as well.

"You almost scared me to death!" Harry breathed deeply.

Delphine laughed and said, "Than I've done my job for the day! Now, how do you think you did on the Potions' Exam?"

"Oh, I know I got every potion correct; I certainly blew Snape's expectations out of proportion!"

Delphine looked at him shocked, "_Snape_ monitored your exam?"

"Yeah, is that odd? He _is_ the head of the Potions' Department; even though I learned more from you this summer than I'll learn from him in a lifetime!"

Delphine ran her fingers over the back of her neck, as if she had a very soft itch, "That is very odd; he hasn't been here all summer and he's not supposed to come back until the rest of the students and teachers do. I wonder,"

She took a scone and had a bite, but then realized something, "Oh! Mumph mummnph!"

Harry smiled at her, "I'm sorry, again in English please!"

Delphine swallowed her food and said again, "Hagrid! I spoke with Hagrid this morning! He needs to have a word with the both of us!"

"OH! I haven't been down to visit him in weeks!" Harry remembered.

"That's because he hasn't been there! He went off to different parts of the world to bring back creatures for Hogwarts' students next year. When I saw him this morning, he looked really upset. All he said was to get you and come back as soon as possible!"

Without any hesitation, Harry got up, and Delphine followed him out to Hagrid's hut. When they got there, Harry was in awe.

Hagrid's vegetable patch was completely destroyed; in fact, everything but the hut itself was in ruins. Harry looked at Delphine for answers, but she shook her head, "He wouldn't tell me what happened; he said he needed you here."

Without knocking, Harry opened Hagrid's door and stepped inside. There were books scattered everywhere. Harry and Delphine looked around for Hagrid, only to find him swing the back door open with Fang at his side.

"Harry! It's about time ye got 'em here Delphine!" Hagrid offered them tea as they sat down on the couch. But Harry wanted to cut to the chase.

"Hagrid, what's going on? What happened out there?"

"And in here!" Delphine pointed out, looking at the mess of papers.

Hagrid sat down in his easy chair, petting Fang who was at his side panting happily, "Do you two remember that Lethifold we were almost killed by a month ago if it 'adn't been fer little Waldgrave 'ere? Well, when I left two weeks ago, everything 'ere was in order. 'Owever, when I got back, I found everythin' you see outside like that yesterday. There were no markings on the ground, which led me to believe that Lethifold was back again! They don't leave any kind of tracks!

"Also, they are blind creatures; they don't go through vegetable patches unless someone was directing them to seek someone out! So, I got all the books from out Library I could find that had information in these critters. And sure enough, I found the quandary!"

He handed Harry and Delphine a huge book and opened it to a certain page. Looking at it, Delphine read aloud, "_As dangerous as Lethifolds are, they can only be found in the Tropical Islands such as Trinidad and Tobago._"

Hagrid pointed at Delphine to show she was right on target. Harry narrowed his eyes in seriousness, "So what you're saying is that _someone_ brought that thing to Hogwarts?"

"Yes; and fer some reason; they want me dead!" Hagrid said with concerned tone in his voice, "I'm just lucky my garden was destroyed; otherwise, I wouldn't know they're after me! Now, I just wanted to tell you both that I'm leavin' Hogwarts, tonight. Albus said he'd have a Critter Crew come out 'ere and look for the Lethifold. Now, until this thing is discovered, and it's owner, I want you and Delphine to keep out of that forest! Even though I know that you both are able to use the Patronus spell; you must stay inside the castle! No gallivanting around outside; especially at night!"

Both Delphine and Harry gave unhappy looks. Harry protested, "But Hagrid, we-"

"Just do it 'arry! Please, fer me!" The two were standing now, exchanging looks of great weightiness of what was happening. They both feared what could be lingering in those woods. However much he feared, Harry felt an even greater emotion, anger.

"Fine Hagrid. We'll stay in the castle." Harry promised.

"Good," Hagrid sighed. Becoming overemotional, Hagrid lifted Delphine up from the couch and pulled her and Harry in for a big tear-jerking hug. Harry and Delphine struggled to breathe as Hagrid held them tightly.

"Thank you both so much for bein' 'ere with me this summer! I know I 'aven't been able to take ya out to meet the new creatures I've got, but I promise I will when it's safe!"

Delphine and Harry struggled free and said goodbye as Hagrid began to pack his belongings with Fang at his side the entire time. Walking back up to the castle, Harry stated, "Something bad is lurking in those woods. My gut tells me it's _Him_, but why would he go after Hagrid and not me? It doesn't add up! Besides, I'm not sure I could even use the patronus spell against that thing; when you did it, you made it look so professional! And that reminds me, your patronus took the shape of a phoenix."

Delphine looked at him confused, "A phoenix? My patronus is a phoenix? Wow, I never knew that! I've only cast the spell a few times for practice; obviously you know that the caster cannot see their patronus themselves, just the light. I've never been around anyone whenever I did it; so I never knew. Hmm, that's odd."

"Why is it odd?" Harry asked.

"Don't you know why it's in the form of certain animals? It reflects the caster's personality. And trust me; I am nothing like a phoenix!"

Finally, they were back in the Gryffindor common room. Delphine sat down in one of the chairs and looked into the fire. Harry was going to sit down, but his thoughts were too strong. So, reading his thoughts, he said aloud, "You know, I do see the resemblance."

Delphine turned her head around, staring at him puzzled with her amber eyes, "What do you mean?"

Harry slowly came closer to her, "You being like the phoenix. You're strong, graceful-"

Delphine laughed, but Harry persisted, "No, I meant it! Like the eternal Phoenix you're wise, and whenever you are at your greatest and you seem to just burn out, you pick up the pieces and start over again, new."

Now, Harry was sitting on the coffee table in front of her. By this point, Delphine was listening intently as he continued, "And on top of all the magical powers you possess, you are utterly beautiful."

Taking an extremely nervous breath, Delphine asked, "Your patronus must be a crocodile."

"No," Harry said, still admiring her, "It's a deer."

She gave a surprised smile, "Really?"

Harry sighed, "Yeah, I know it's not as majestic as a phoenix-"

"On the contrary, I believe a deer is a lot higher in this case. It is considered one of the highest animals in nobility; many great wizards have said they have found deer carry 'the message of purity and of purpose'. I don't really know what they meant by that, but it sounds pretty important. So, don't feel like you got the 'pathetic animal'. Everyone's patronus is unique."

Harry could look no where else but into Delphine's fiery eyes. Believing he was only saying it inside his head, Harry muttered aloud, "As are you."

Hearing what he said, Delphine looked back into the fire nervously. When Harry realized his thought was heard, he cleared his throat and stood up, "I think I'll head off to bed!"

He yawned falsely, and nervously ran up the stairs to bed. Delphine watched him leave, all the while hiding her smile. At that moment, she was glad. She was thankful that she met Harry this summer and was in his house. If she had ended up in her father's house, she probably would have never been able to become friends with Harry. Staring into the fire, Delphine realized how lucky she was that she wasn't a Slytherian.

"What was _that_?" Harry paced his room frantically searching a solution for his behavior downstairs in the common room.

Ever since the night he and Delphine went into her pensieve, Harry's been acting odd. Though he didn't know why. He tried to recollect the memories of his past to find out when the last time was that he acted like this.

"Wait a minute!" Harry exclaimed. It had to be his 4th and 5th year. He'd acted in this manner whenever he was around…

"_Oh no_!" He acted this way around Cho Chang.

The next couple of days were very hard for Harry. Since he had passed Potions, he and Delphine would spend most of their daytime (since they weren't allowed near the forest) finishing their summer homework.

They'd go to the library and do research a lot. However, it was puzzling to Delphine of Harry's newfound behavior. Every time they would talk, she noticed Harry distinctly tried to avoid eye contact with her. And, when passing him notes or a book, Harry would avoid even her hand as she passed it to him. It was like he was disgusted with her, without saying anything.

Delphine sighed as she thought about these things as they studied in the common room. However, what Delphine did not realize was whenever she was focusing in on her books and notes, two green eyes would be staring her down. Harry tried to control himself, but he couldn't help it.

Watching her work, he wondered why he was feeling this way towards her. 'I mean, look at her!' he thought, 'Look at the odd clothes she's wearing, the weird braids in her hair, her annoyingly good skill at potions, the power she has at defense against the dark arts, her golden eyes, the pure orchid scent she gives off whenever she flips around, and that smile; _oh God that gorgeous smile!_'

"Did you finish the notes on Care of Magical Creatures year 6?" Delphine yawned as she asked.

Harry shook his head and looked down at his lack-of notes, "Uh, no."

"You alright?" she asked, looking at him puzzled.

"Yeah, yeah, you're fine-I-I mean I'm fine!"

Delphine shrugged it off and tried to stay awake as she looked back at the book.

'Do some work!' Harry thought to himself, taking his mind out of his dreams.

"Finally! I'm done!" Harry sighed about half an hour later. Of course, he had only done the notes, but they were done.

"How far have you gotten Del-" He looked over across the couch and saw Delphine had fallen asleep, curled up just next to him.

Harry couldn't help but move closer, watching her sleep. Slowly and cautiously, Harry reached out his hand, and gently placed it on Delphine's cheek, moving it along her face. She murmured something suddenly, and Harry drew his hand away. Getting up, he picked up a nearby blanket and placed it over her. Picking up his books, he headed up towards the boys' dormitory.

Tossing and turning in bed, Harry didn't sleep but an hour that night: he couldn't stop thinking about Delphine. He went back and forth in his head about what he should do. The entire time, he knew the best answer: he had to remain friends with her; _just_ friends.

The next morning, Harry woke up very late. He looked at his watch and saw it was already past noon.

"Bloody Hell!" Jumping out of bed and then rummaging through his laundry for some clean clothes, Harry cursed at himself for sleeping in so late. He had forgotten that Dumbledore had spoken to him the day before. He wanted Harry to meet him in his office at 12 o'clock PM.

Running down the hallway, Harry hurried to get to Dumbledore's office, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation to why he was late. Climbing the stone staircase to the headmaster's office, Harry gulped, knowing he had no good reason for being so late. He turned the door, looked into the room, and saw darkness.

Worried, Harry drew out his wand, lighting it at its tip. He took a few steps into the room before he saw a narrow face with half-moon-rimmed glasses looking down at him.

Dumbledore said most seriously, "You're late Harry."

"I know sir. I slept in. I'm so sorry!"

Dumbledore sighed, "It's no matter; it give us some extra time to fix it all anyway!"

Harry stared blankly at Dumbledore, "_Us_?"

Just then, the lights flew on and fire sparks flew across the room. Out from the darkness came Hagrid, holding presents, and Delphine, starting the sparks with her wand.

"Surprise! Happy Birthday Harry!" They shouted.

All Harry could do was grin like an idiot. No one's ever thrown him a surprise party before. He felt even more like a doof than before for showing up so late.

They all came over and pulled out his gifts. He smiled and accepted them, "Thank you so much! But I don't deserve this; I'm an hour late!"

"Oh it's alrigh' Arry; it was no big deal!" Hagrid chuckled loudly.

"Yeah, now come sit down and open your presents!" Delphine said.

Harry smiled and followed her; Delphine looked so cute today. She wore a flowing lavender gypsy skirt with a deep pink laced tank top. And for the first time ever, she didn't have braids in her hair. Her hair was down in its naturally wavy wild locks, almost like gold.

Sitting next to him, Delphine handed him the first present. Looking over her shoulder, Harry saw all of his presents in a pile on the floor. There were tons.

"Whoa! Who gave me all of these?" Harry goggled.

"Your friends Harry," Dumbledore claimed, sipping some tea in the chair across from them, "I believe almost everyone in Gryffindor sent you them. Oh, also, Ron and Hermione wanted me to tell you to have a 'wicked' 16th birthday and apologized for not coming. Hermione has gone with Ron and the rest of the Weasleys to Romania for the rest of the summer."

Harry nodded impervious to the statement. He glanced at Delphine, who was mouthing the words, 'They so need to go out already' to him. Trying not to laugh, Harry began to open his presents. Later on, the four of them enjoyed the pumpkin cake the goblins in the kitchen made especially for Harry. Dobby brought it to Harry personally. It wasn't the best looking cake (obviously done by Dobby), but it tasted incredible.

Later, at dusk, Harry was up in the Owlery, sending letters to Ron and Hermione along with the rest of Gryffindor, thanking them for the gifts. Sending the last one, Harry sighed. He had been stressed out for two days. He had no idea how to react around Delphine. Today, whenever she would talk to him, he'd always bring Dumbledore or Hagrid into the conversation so he would have to speak to her on his own.

Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He had no clue what he was going to do. Opening his eyes, he saw a pinkish blob in front of him. Putting on his glasses he spoke, "Hi Delphine, what are you doing here?"

"Three reasons," she said matter-of-factly. Harry loved when she was like that; trying to act like she was still his teacher and has to act professionally, only it comes out in a quirky charm.

"First of all, I brought you your jacket. I saw it hanging in the common room and figured you'd need it to come out here on this oddly chilly night. And second, I never gave you my present."

As he put on his brown jacket, she handed him a small silvery bag. Opening it, Harry found a small bottle with a turquoise purple substance inside.

"What is it?" He asked curiously.

Putting on a big black coat, Delphine explained, "It's the Draught of Peace. Whoever drinks the liquid will instantly become calm, loosing all their anxiety they've been feeling."

Looking from the bottle to her in the oddly huge coat, Harry asked, "Why'd you make me this potion?"

Thinking a moment, Delphine took a few steps away from him, heading towards an open window. Peering out at the sunset in the west, she said, "The past couple of days I've spent with you have been odd. We've been studying and doing our summer homework together and I can see it's taken a toll on your stress level. I figured you would need this."

Harry walked over to where she was, just as she turned towards him. They bumped each other awkwardly, and Harry moved away apologetically.

Delphine's cool eyes narrowed concerned, "That's exactly what I'm talking about. You're obsessing over so many things all at once. I think it'll be nice if you take this and have a stress-free birthday."

Harry nodded. It was weird; all summer he'd been thinking of so many things all at once, but they never _really_ seemed to bother him. It was ironic that only one person, one girl, this girl could cause him to change his actions and words completely.

She smiled at him encouragingly and added, "Go on, it's not gillywater!"

He took one last look at her, and then downed the bottle. It actually tasted quite good; a mixture of cinnamon and toffee. Nothing happened for a few seconds. He looked back at Delphine and shrugged. Just then, he felt a strange sensation in his stomach. All at once, he fainted.

"Harry…Harry."

Opening his eyes, he gazed dreamily into Delphine's amber ones. He shook his head, feeling refreshed and without a headache. He lifted his head a little, and realized he was in Delphine's arms.

She held his head gently and told him softly, "I should've warned you not to drink it all at once. But I think you'll be alright."

Taking him by the hand, she helped him up. Harry dusted himself off and looked back at Delphine curiously, "You said you had three things to tell me. What's the third?"

"Not tell you, _show_ you." She took his hand and led him from the Owlery.

They walked along the path, but didn't head towards the castle. But Harry wasn't worried, or concerned; he was quite at ease. And he liked it. Being so serene, Harry noticed Delphine's coat.

Not nervous anymore, he asked, "Del, I don't mean to sound rude, but that coat's a little big on you."

Delphine chuckled a little and told him, "My father gave it to me. When he was alive, of course. He told me it was his when he was my age. Oh, the way he and mum talked about their time here at Hogwarts is so sweet.

"My dad was sort of a bully at Hogwarts. But not the Crabbe or Goyle type. He'd never talk to anyone, but if someone did provoke him, he'd beat the pulp out of them. Excelled in his Defense against the Dark Arts of course! And my mum never really knew him because he was so shy. She, on the other hand, was at the top of her class. She was beautiful, kind, and had a great sense of humor. On top of that, she had a knack for Potions. However, she never really dated anyone. She always said she was looking for something more, something different. She was definitely a dreamer.

"My dad first noticed my mum at the 7th year Ball, for the graduating class. He saw her in her deep blue gown with her dark hair up, laughing with her friends. He always told me that she was a perfect angel sent from Heaven to be his dream. However, he never got up

the nerve to ask her out.

"However, two years later, my dad had officially joined the Aurors at the Ministry of Magic. That same day he joined, his boss told him that the Daily Prophet wanted to interview an auror. Of course, being an auror, no pictures could be taken or the names of the aurors. Still, they wanted an interview with a new auror. My dad gave in and went to the interview.

"Wouldn't you know my mum was the reporter for the Daily Prophet? It was her first day on the job as well, and her first assignment was to interview a new auror. That was the first time they officially met. Their first date was that night. I know it sounds lame, but this coat reminds me of things like that; those memories. Yeah, I wasn't even born when they met, but I can picture it in my mind. Does that sound weird?"

Harry smiled and honestly stated, "No. It makes perfect sense. I remember something like that as well. It was in a pensieve. I saw my parents back when they were here too. My godfather, Sirius Black was there with them. It is nice to picture all of them together, happy, alive."

Delphine stopped walking and turned to face him. He stared at the ground, frozen with sorrow. Picking his chin up with her fingers, she said, "I can't imagine what you must be going through."

"No, I think you do. You've lost someone you loved too." Harry noted.

But Delphine shook her head, "I believe that it's different for everyone. Because, no two people are the same."

They stood there silently a few minutes. Finally, Delphine groaned with annoyance in her voice, "What am I doing? It's your birthday? I'm talking to you about death and bringing up your family that's gone! This is supposed to be a happy day for you!"

"It's all good Del, I'm calm, I'm cool." He was. He wasn't upset or ready to burst into tears. He was serene.

"No, I'm screwing this up badly," she said aggravated. She looked around and thought to herself.

Suddenly, Harry realized that they were in the middle of the Forbidden Forest. Still calm, he said, "Why are we here Del? Hagrid told us to stay out of here and in the castle no matter-"

She pushed her hand to his lips and whispered, "Harry, be quiet."

Taking out her wand, she pointed it at him. Still unalarmed, Harry looked at her silently but curiously.

Not tarring her eyes from him, she asked, "Do you trust me Harry?"

Without hesitation, he spoke, "Yes."

Taking his answer, Delphine closed her eyes. She whispered a word, causing the wand to glow. Then, she muttered another word, this time pointing up at the sky. In a gigantic bundle of light, Delphine's wand released a bright pink light from her wand, heading up above them. At the top of the trees, it stopped and came down, melting into a giant pink transparent bubble at least twenty feet wide around Harry and Delphine.

The light in her wand went out, and Delphine opened her eyes. Putting the wand away, she pointed up, "Harry, look at that."

Looking at the sky, Harry gasped. The trees had moved, revealing all the stars in the solar system. Neither he nor Delphine had seen the night sky in weeks; not like this. Harry beamed as he watched comets fly by.

"Where did you learn that spell from?" Harry asked.

"My father. He came up with it himself. That's one of the few things we had in common; watching the stars."

Suddenly, Harry saw something forming in the sky. Stars collided and he could see them begin to spell out: _Harry Birthday Harry_.

Harry grinned even bigger when he gazed up at the words. Somewhat shyly, Del asked, "I know I didn't go out and buy you something fancy, but do you like your presents anyway?"

Still gazing at the stars, Harry exclaimed, "It's the best gift I've ever been given."

Delphine smiled to herself, happy and nervous at the words. She bundled tighter into the black coat, not sure what to say next. When she looked up at him, she was scared that he was looking back at her.

Trying to act normal, she brushed her hair behind her head, "What is it? Is there something on my face?"

"No." Harry calmly said.

Looking anywhere but into his eyes, she asked, "Then do I have something in my hair?"

"Nope." He stated smoothly.

"So I have nothing out of the ordinary on me or anything?"

Harry smiled, telling her, "Del, there is absolutely nothing ordinary about you. I think that's why I like you."

Delphine froze. 'Did he mean that's why he likes me as a friend? Or does he mean, likes me likes me?' she thought to herself.

She looked into his green eyes, seeing that he was not worried, anxious, or afraid of approaching her anymore. Delphine trembled as Harry took a few steps toward her. Both of them felt a warm, deep, butterfly feeling in the pits of their stomachs when their bodies touched.

Harry felt so good. There was no fear or concern in his heart. But, it wasn't the potion that made him feel that way. Looking deep into her eyes, Harry felt like the person he'd always wanted to be.

Delphine, on the other hand, couldn't believe this was happening. She was scared, but felt she might faint if they came any closer. At the same time, she was anxious and wanted to know what he was thinking.

After the antagonizing moments passed, everything turned into a blur. Harry leaned over, holding Delphine's arms gently, and kissed her softly. Pecking her a second time, he looked at her shut eyes, wanting to know if his actions were admirable. Dreamily, Delphine opened her eyes.

Looking at her, Harry's eyes seemed to ask her what she was thinking. It didn't take Delphine long to give him and answer. With a passionate look, the two came together like puzzle pieces.

Delphine drowned herself in the touch of Harry's cool lips. Harry reached for her face, wanting to hold onto their moment for as long as possible. Their tongues found each other, stroking each other with pure affection and infatuation. Harry almost died when he heard Delphine make a soft satisfied moan. She wrapped her arms around him as they lost themselves in the moment.

Safe inside the pink translucent bubble, Harry and Delphine enjoyed each other's first best kiss they'd each ever had.


	7. What Really Matters

Sweet summer air blew through the willow trees down by the emerald grass next to the lake. Harry inhaled the warm breeze, closing his eyes contented with the beautiful weather on the 1st of the August.

Finally finding words, Harry asked, "When is your birthday? If I'm ever going to top the one you gave to me, I have to start working on something marvelous as soon as possible."

Moving the wild hair and braids from her face, Delphine turned her head back to him and answered, "The last of October; I'll be sixteen."

"Halloween? Wicked." Harry contemplated ideas in his mind already.

Resting the back of her head on his chest, Delphine sighed lazily, "Calm down Potter; you've got plenty of time to think about that. You don't need to work yourself up and become stressed out again. I want you to save the rest of the Draught of Peace when exams roll around!"

"Exams! Ugg! I'm so sick of them; what do they really do for me anyways? They're such a nuisance!"

"I know; but they help us in the long run. When we've gone and left this place, we'll be looking for work; finding out what we are to become. These tests just how us what are abilities are so we can find out what we want."

Taking her hands in his, Harry leaned his head over onto her shoulder, "But what I want is right here."

Delphine couldn't help but smile. She turned her face back towards him, kissing him gently on the lips. Then, looking back at the water, she grinned as Harry wrapped his arms around her comfortably.

"Harry, what do you want to be when you grow up?" she asked him.

Taking a moment to think, he replied, "I'm not sure. I've always been fascinated with Aurors though; battling evil wizards and witches then putting them in Azkaban. Travel around the world, and be an expert in Defense against the Dark Arts! Umm, did your father like it? No, I shouldn't ask you that! I-"

"No, it's alright," she encouraged him, "He did love it very much. And he was good at it, you know."

Becoming more curious, Harry felt bold enough to ask, "Then why did I never hear about him? I know he was gone before I met with many of the aurors last year; but wouldn't they have commented on him and his greatness before he was killed?"

Taking his arms off her, Delphine gave him an awkward, uncomfortable look. Before she even spoke, Harry knew he shouldn't have mentioned it.

"Harry, I'm sorry, but I don't think I can answer that."

Watching her get up and walk away, Harry realized that she wasn't just referring to her father's death. There was something about Astin Waldgrave that Delphine didn't want him to know.

However, watching Del walk away occupied his mind over her father's secrets. So, knowing he could trust her, Harry got up and caught up with Delphine in the courtyard.

Three days later, Harry happily strode towards Dumbledore's office; eager to know when he would be receiving his schedule for the upcoming semester. The day before, he and Delphine were accompanied by Filch to Diagon Alley to pay for their books for the year.

Surprisingly, Harry and Delphine had a wonderful time with Filch. However, it was only when they cast spells on Mrs. Norris and the old grouch that they were having fun. Thinking of these things, Harry almost turned the next hallway outside of Dumbledore's office when he heard Snape fuming.

Thinking of the disappearing spell Delphine taught him that summer; Harry quickly whispered the words and disappeared into nothingness. In the nick of time, Harry was cloaked as Professor Snape and Professor Dumbledore rounded the corner.

"Are you absolutely sure about this Headmaster?" Snape asked politely, even though Harry could tell he meant it rude and suspiciously.

"Yes Severus; she has given me no reason to question her trust. Besides, I believe that Harry can tell who is trustworthy or not; wouldn't you agree?" Dumbledore nodded ever so slightly to Snape.

'What?' Harry thought to himself, 'I can't wait to hear Snape's response to that about me; bet he'll say I'm blinded by this girl and cheeky!"

After a moment to pondering, Snape realized, "Well, he _is_ a trouble-maker _and_ a cheeky boy; however, whenever it comes to danger and survival, he has always been in the right. However, I can't say the same about his potions grade this past year!"

Harry was shocked. Yes, Snape had ridiculed Harry as he always did; but he heard the compliment in the midst of the insults. Seeing Snape's expression, he could tell there was no lie. As bitter as he had been, maybe Harry was wrong that Snape was out to get him. Maybe Snape was just a prick.

"But you did see Harry's scores on his make-up test this summer Severus! And I have to tell you, Ms. Waldgrave is a very gifted student. I believe we can expect great things from her."

"I'm still not sure about _her_ Albus," Snape hesitated on the topic, "Just look at what happened with Astin; I believe that he was in-"

"No, Severus," Dumbledore calmly interrupted him, "Not here. We must get to the meeting; don't want to keep the other professors waiting. We will speak of this at a later date."

Even though the headmaster didn't look at him, Harry felt the old man knew of his presence. Taking the spell off when they left, Harry walked the hallways the rest of the day, thinking. He didn't know what to believe; apparently there was more than just an anonymous murder involved in the Waldgrave's past. But what? And like Snape had said, could he trust her?

As he walked to the Gryffindor tower, Harry wondered how he should act around Delphine. He had so many questions, but he knew that she wasn't ready to answer any of them. He didn't want to upset her; he didn't want to see her cry like the night he went into Dumbledore's pensieve.

Thinking only of this, Harry put all other thoughts out of his mind. He couldn't worry about it, he wouldn't. And when he entered through the painting and into the common room, he didn't have to.

Delphine was sitting on the couch reading, waiting for him. Looking up, she put down her book and smiled, "Hey, where have you been all day?"

"Oh, just stopped by to see Dumbledore, then just around the campus. I'm really going to miss the peace and quiet around here. No congestion in the hallways, any packed library or common rooms."

"Hmm, that's right," Delphine agreed, "It doesn't feel like everyone will be back the day after tomorrow."

"The day after tomorrow!" Harry couldn't believe it. Just as he was starting to enjoy the comforts of Hogwarts with Delphine all alone, all the students would be back to ruin the peace.

But, Delphine surprised Harry even more with a question, "Harry, what's going to happen to us?"

"What?" Harry sat down on the couch next to her, taking her hand in his.

"I mean, what are we doing anyway? Are we a couple? Or, are things going to go back to the way they were before the summer began? I don't want to put all of this on you at once; I know it's hard. And, if you don't want to continue this, I understand."

Harry tried all during her speech to get her to stop, "Del, it's alright. Nothing will change. I don't know anymore than that; but I promise you, nothing will change."

Harry hoped she would be satisfied with his answer. Growing a smile, she leaned into him and softly replied, "That's more than I could've asked for."

He smiled back at her. He was about to reply, but Delphine put her hand to his lips as she had done before countless times, but never in this way.

"No Harry, no more talking."

With no hesitation, she placed her hands on his face and pulled him into a kiss. Falling back on the couch, Harry awkwardly squirmed as Delphine lay on top of him, kissing him still.

Delphine glued her slender body to him as she heightened the intensity of the kiss. Dazed in the embrace, it took him a few moments that she had moved from his lips to his neck.

Harry chuckled when she first touched him there, never had being touched there by anyone before. But as she continued, Harry became much more intrigued in it. Becoming more than comfortable with his present situation, Harry slid his hands around her back, pulling Delphine even closer to him.

Without warning, Harry flipped both himself Delphine onto the floor. In the process, Delphine hit her head on the corner of the coffee table and fell onto Harry, digging her knee into him accidentally.

Almost simultaneously, they both let out, "OWW!"

Harry had intended to be smooth about moving to the floor, but it utterly failed. Sitting up, Delphine held her aching head. Harry sat up as well, but only cupped himself as modestly as he could.

Looking at each other in their pain, they began to laugh. They moved over towards the fire place, setting up a comfortable spot with pillows and a blanket. Putting his arm around her, Harry admitted, "You're the only person I know that can make my own clumsiness seem like a charm!"

"And who says that it isn't a charm? If we weren't clumsy people, we wouldn't have had the same first meeting!" Delphine stated.

Harry looked at her, rather insulted, "So you're calling my attempt at Potions clumsiness? Cause that's when I first met you, being my professor!"

Delphine chuckled and corrected him, "No Potter; in the hallway that night! We bumped into each other and my papers flew everywhere!"

Harry thought about it, and then realized that she was right, "Oh! I completely forgot about that! It isn't that _I_ was clumsy; I mean, _you_ were the one that dropped the papers!"

"Ah!" Annoyed, Delphine took one of the red pillows and began to hit Harry angrily.

He laughed and hit her back with his pillow, but very lightly. Delphine dropped hers and gave Harry an unforgiving look. He grinned devilishly at her, and then kissed her deeply. Eventually, Delphine gave up the fight.

The next morning, Harry woke up to the sparrow's song. He tried to turn over onto his side, but he felt something holding him in place. Looking down to the middle of his shirt, what seemed to be a dead Delphine rested there. He looked around the room and realized that he was still next to the fire place on the floor in the common room. They had stayed there all night.

Just then, a smile came to his face. With a sudden boost of energy and joy, Harry picked up her body and moved her off of him. Placing his arms around her, he kissed her gently on the mouth.

Slowly, she woke up. Realizing that he was pecking her over and over on her face, she groaned and turned away from him, pulling the blanket over her.

But Harry was persistent; he moved the covers off of her and tickled her in the stomach. Jerking awake and laughing she screamed, "Not fair! You cheat!"

He stopped finally, having her full attention. He planted a longer kiss on her lips, but she soon stopped him saying, "Unh unh! Morning breath; I need to go brush my teeth!"

Harry got off of her and groaned a 'fine' as she ran up the stairs.

Their last day alone together couldn't have been more perfect. The weather was beautiful, she was beautiful, and everything seemed to just fall away, leaving the two of them in the world. Feeling overjoyed, Harry couldn't think of a time that he was happier.

Finally, it came. The following day, the students came back to Hogwarts. Putting on his black robe, Harry came down to the Gryffindor common room that would be empty for the last time. Finding Delphine in her cloak as well, he asked, "Are you ready to go to dinner and see everyone again?"

"Oh, Harry, I can't go." She admitted.

"Wait, what? Why not?" Harry interjected.

"Because I have to take care of a few things. I'm going to be in the library all night. Don't mention me to anyone or they'll come looking for me!"

Harry thought for a second, and then asked, "But wouldn't they notice you weren't there anyways?"

"Are you kidding? I've done this loads of times without getting caught! No one really cares enough to notice me Harry; not nowadays."

But Harry wouldn't listen; he came to her and put his arms around her, "I care."

Leaning in, he kissed her gently on the lips. Delphine closed her eyes painfully, trying not to show her true feelings to him in this situation.

As soon as their lips parted, Delphine whispered, "I must go." And taking her books, she left the room; which would be silent for the last time.

Harry was so upset and distraught about Delphine; he felt it hard to think of anything else. However, when he saw Ron and Hermione again, it was as if they had never left three months ago.

They never parted the entire evening; it was clear that they were the troublesome trio yet again. However, Harry realized later that night, he had never mentioned Delphine in their conversation. It wasn't that he didn't want to; he just didn't think of her.

Harry put it from his mind as they walked into the common room. There were people everywhere; Harry wasn't used to it. He looked around for Delphine in the crowd, but she wasn't there.

"You alright Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I'm fine." Harry said distantly.

"I think bein' at this school year round took a toll on 'em!" Ron said aside to Hermione.

That night in bed, Harry couldn't sleep. He wondered why Delphine went to the library; what was she looking for? Harry tossed and turned the entire night thinking about it.

The next morning, Harry couldn't find Delphine anywhere. Not in the common room, potions class, the courtyard, the Great Hall. Harry was just about to give up when he walked into his Defense against the Dark Arts class. There she was, sitting with an empty seat next to her, in the back of the class. Without any hesitation, he hurried towards the seat and swiftly sat down.

Hearing the abrupt noise next to her, Delphine turned her head to see Harry there. He smiled and said, "Hi."

Delphine looked at him awkwardly, as she did when they first met, and went back to her book. Harry was so confused. He was about to speak again when he heard a whisper, "Harry!"

Looking over, he saw Ron and Hermione towards the front, motioning him to come sit next to them in an empty seat. But Harry didn't want to leave Delphine. So, to avoid them, he ignored them like he didn't even see them. Ron gave him a face that was perplexed, but Hermione told him to turn around as their teacher approached. Much to all of the students shock, it was Professor Snape.

"Welcome to your sixth year of the Defense against the Dark Arts. I will be your director, and you all know to call me Professor Snape!"

Harry's eyes popped out of his head. First, his girlfriend was ignoring him, then he ignored his friends who probably hate him now, and Snape has snagged the job he loved the most! Harry felt as though he would die.

When the class ended, Harry looked to see that Delphine was already out the door. He ran to catch up to her, and said, "Hey, Delphine, wait! What's going on? Why won't you talk to me?"

Avoiding his gaze, she said, "I'm doing you a favor. I realized the other night that it would be too hard to do this to you."

She tried to leave, but he stopped her, "Do what Del?"

Showing him her somber eyes, she said, "I'm saving you embarrassment. Look, people are already staring! If we did _this_; that means things will change between you and your friends. I can't ask you to change your life for me; I won't!"

But, before Harry could speak his mind, Ron came over and asked bluntly, "Harry, why didn't you come up and sit next to us? I understand that when Snape came out everyone wanted to be in the way back, but still!"

Harry again was about to speak, but Delphine piped up, "Sorry about that; it was my fault. I needed some extra help from Harry; I figured he'd be pretty since he's done a lot at this school so far!"

Harry couldn't believe it. But Ron bought the story and said, "Alright, come on Harry."

It was the worst possible way to end it: Harry watched Delphine back away and Ron walked on with him. It seemed that their summer romance would remain only a summer romance.

After their potions class, now run by a Professor Slughorn, the trio had some R&R in the courtyard. But as Ron acted stupidly and Hermione laughed, Harry couldn't enjoy himself. All he thought about was Delphine.

"Delphine." Harry heard coming out of his trance.

"Huh?" Harry asked Ron, who was speaking to him.

"What's up with that Delphine girl? Does she have a crush on you or something?"

Feeling utterly horrible that they were over, he honestly put, "No, she doesn't like me."

Ron sighed and said to them both, "Good; you don't need that on your plate! She's a strange one; right up there with Luna Lovegood!"

"Why do you say that?" Harry asked.

"Well, she's odd Harry. She doesn't act very normally. But it doesn't mean she's a freak like Ron here is putting it!" Hermione commented.

"Whatever." Harry was too upset to focus on the two. But then, his focus went onto something else in the courtyard.

Draco Malfoy. He was laughing with Crabbe and Goyle as usual, about something stupid of course. Seeing Draco only made Harry think of the time Delphine hit him outside of the library. He smiled as he watched the idiot soak in his pride.

But then, Delphine walked past them. Draco's attention quickly moved to her; making Harry quite uncomfortable.

With his loud voice, Harry could hear Draco speak from across the courtyard, "Well well, look who it is boys, Waldgrave! Have a nice summer at the castle? I bet you had your nose in a book the whole time; sucking up to Dumbledore I imagine! And what about your student Harry Potter? He was so stupid that they had to send in a little bookworm like you to nerd him up! Ha, you're ridiculous Waldgrave!"

Harry's rage was at its hottest. He couldn't take it anymore; he let his emotions run his mind. As he got up, both Hermione and Ron looked at him, "Harry what are you-"

"You must've loved being with a boy all summer. I bet you tried to make him your boyfriend? Or was it the other way around? Either way, you two are so pathetic that you deserve each other! Ha, too bad for you that he's not your boyfriend!"

Suddenly, Draco felt someone tap him on his shoulder. Turning around with a grin on his face, Harry's fist met him, wiping the smirk clean off. Crabbe and Goyle held Malfoy up, unaware of what to do.

Delphine's expression was that of shock. When Malfoy's vision came back, he saw Harry standing there, completely mad. By this point, everyone in the courtyard was watching.

Answering the villain, Harry stated, "Actually, _I_ _am_!"

Malfoy's face was as surprised and shocked as Delphine's now. But Harry didn't care. He went over to Delphine and reached for her hand, "Come on, I have some friends I want you to meet."


	8. All This Time

Later that night, Harry and Delphine were sitting by the fire, talking. It was just like the days during summer; like nothing was different.

"That new Potions teacher, Professor Slughorn, is really uh, different. But I must warn you, don't ever sit in the front row, he spits!" Del disgustedly explained.

"I know! And can you believe Professor Trelawney? It was like she was making up her own chat to 'awaken the spirits'!"

The two both laughed together joyfully. Ever since Harry's heroic act in the courtyard that afternoon, they had been in high spirits.

But what the two didn't know was that they were being watched. Ron peered out from the steps, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

However, what the red haired Wealsey didn't know was that he was not alone. Hermione ran her fingers up his back like a spider. Buying her attempt, Ron screamed like a little girl as he ran down into the open common room.

As he ascended the stairs, however, he tripped on his un-laced sneaker and fell. Hermione came after him and laughed as she helped him up.

"Very funny!" Ron muttered bitterly.

Both Harry and Del laughed as soon as they saw he was alright, but quickly went back into their conversation.

Watching the two again, Ron told Hermione, "How could this have happened? Wasn't he with Snape or that Slughorn guy all summer doing boring Potions?"

"You mean you don't know? Oh, Harry must've told me after you left dinner! Delphine was his tutor; apparently she's a thousand times better than Snape ever was. I tested him on some hard ingredients; he knew them all! He's probably as good as me thanks to her help!"

Ron couldn't believe it, "I can't believe this!"

Hermione watched curiously as Ron sat in a chair on the other side of the room, watching the couple. Joining him, she asked, "Why does it bother you so much Ron? Aren't you happy for him? And look at today; he stood up for her, and beat up Malfoy in the process! You can't tell me that's a good thing?"

Ron shook his head, "I don't know Hermione. There's something about that girl I don't like. One minute she's the snobbiest girl in our House, and then she goes into a silent creepy phase. Now, she's gotten Harry all smitten with her. I don't like it; not one bit!"

Finally seeing his problem, Hermione replied, "You're jealous!"

Ron turned to her finally with a ludicrous expression, "_What_?"

"Yes! That's it! You're jealous that Harry has a girlfriend and you don't! Oh, why didn't I see it before?"

"No! That's not it! I just don't trust her…"

"Oh, get over it Ron!" She took his arm and pulled him off of the chair, taking him over to Harry and Del.

Grabbing the couple's attention, Hermione asked, "May we join you?"

Harry didn't hesitate, "You don't even have to ask Hermione!"

Hermione and Ron sat down. She gave the unsure boy a threatening look to act nicely, and he sighed obediently.

"So, was it exciting being here all summer? Or, did it get dull?" Hermione asked.

"Uh, there were slow days sometimes, but overall, it was the best summer yet." Harry glanced at Del, who hid her blush.

"Great!" Hermione nudged Ron to speak, which surprised him.

"Uh," he tried to think of something, "How long have you two been snogging-uh-I mean seeing each other?"

Both Harry and Del looked at each other, unknowingly, and then back at Ron, "To be perfectly honest, I don't know. I mean, there was never a real 'set-time' when we started 'seeing' each other. I guess it just sort of happened over the course of the summer."

"Oh, I understand," Hermione added, "It can be unbearable having to do the whole 'anniversery' thing and remembering all the pointless, unnecessary details! It's mind-boggling."

"Right." Harry agreed.

"Yeah," was Del's first word in the conversation that night.

They sat there awkwardly for a few seconds, but felt like a few hours. Finally, unable to take the weirdness of it all, Delphine stood up.

"I think I'm going to turn in. Goodnight, nice speaking with you!" and as quick as she could, Delphine left the room.

Harry watched her leave, and then turned back to his friends, "Now wasn't that the most awkward and uncomfortable conversation of my life!" he said sarcastically.

Hermione sighed, "Sorry Harry, it's just, it-"

"You can't be serious about her can you?" Ron interrupted.

"Thanks for that!" Hermione interjected.

Both boys ignored her complaint, "What's wrong with Del? You don't like her?"

"Don't get me wrong Harry, she seems really nice. But would you just look at her? The way she stares and people, the weird get-ups she has on, and what's with the few random braids in her hair?"

"Looks aren't a reason to not like a person Ron!" Harry snapped, becoming more and more tense in the discussion.

"You said it yourself Harry! You sent me letters about her at the beginning of the summer before you tutoring started. You said she was weird; don't you still see that? She's kind of out there like Professor Trelawney. But, I guess when you stopped writing to me, things changed didn't they? What was it that intrigued you Harry? Was it just the fact that you were sick and tired of the Potions lessons and needed a way to shut her up? Or was it that you yourself were bored with the situation and there was no one else around?"

At this moment, Harry got up, ready to sock Ron in the lip. But Hermione stopped him, "Ron, you're out of line! Stop it!"

Getting up slowly, Ron walked towards the stairs, "This isn't a good idea." He added warningly.

When he was out of sight, Harry and Hermione sat down.

"Why would he say those things to me?" Harry asked, upset.

"Oh, he's just jealous you have someone and he doesn't. Don't worry, it'll pass." Hermione patted him on the back comfortingly.

Looking up at her, he asked, "What do you think of her?"

She smiled, and said, "She suits you."

Harry himself grew a smile, and hugged her, "Thank you."

Even though Hermione lifted his mood back up, the next few days were torture. It became quite clear to Harry that his sixth year would be his most challenging yet; in class work that is. Even at his best efforts, he still couldn't finish everything he was assigned. Unfortunately, the one assignment he hadn't fully completed was for his Defense against the Darks teacher, Snape.

"Are you having difficulty finishing your essay for me Mr. Potter?" Snape asked in his usual toffee-nosed tone.

"Well, I had a-"

"No excuses," Snape interrupted, walking away with Harry's parchment. Sitting down at his desk, he took out his own quill, "F for incomplete assignment."

"But Professor, I didn't have enough time to finish it all!" Harry objected.

"That is no excuse for your poor management of time Mr. Potter. Ten points from Gryffindor for speaking out of term; fifteen points for objecting to one's _final _grade." Snape cast Harry an evil look.

Harry sat back down in his chair, burying his face in his hands. Hermione and Delphine exchanged sympathetic looks, while Ron stared down Snape heatedly.

"I don't know what happened; even with everything going on last year, I was able to get everything done! What's wrong with me?" Harry ran the entire first week through his mind, trying to think of some solution that night in the common room.

Trying to comfort him, Delphine rubbed his back encouragingly, "You've been trying too hard Harry; you're stressing yourself out."

She looked around and saw that they were almost completely alone. Bringing her eyes back to him, she advised Harry, "I think you should go for a walk; to clear your head. It would get your mind off of horrid Snape and all of the work."

Harry nodded, but then remembered, "But we have that Transfiguration lab to work on-"

"I'll take care of it; I am your partner for the project. You go. Just clear your mind of everything and try to relax; whatever you think that means."

Sighing, he leaned over and kissed her broodingly. Then, he rose and put on his jacket and then left.

As he entered the quiet courtyard, Harry took a deep breath of fresh air, doing the best he could to 'clear his mind'. He walked along the grassy knoll; trying hard not to think about Snape, Ron, his assignments due the very next day or anything else. But as tough as he tried to rid his mind of these things, they only pounded onto him even stronger.

Irritated, he sighed and reached into his coat pocket. Pulling out a vile, he smiled. Delphine had given it to him a few days ago. It was more of the Draught of Peace. Harry reminisced at the last time he took some of it. That day was the happiest of his life. So, trusting that things couldn't possibly get any worse by taking it, he sipped it down effortlessly.

After a moment or two, he felt a little wobbly and weak at the knees; but by letting the potion take its course, he soon became calm and suddenly entranced by all that was around him. He felt so good to be here; to be alive. Admiring his situation, he walked away from the castle, and off into the Forbidden Forest.

"Yes!" Delphine cried out in triumph. Two fifth years who were reading in the corner, glared at her snobbishly. But she didn't care. She had finished the transfiguration project.

She was about to go tell try to see if he was in the guys' dormitory, but then she looked at the door to the common room. She had been sitting there for the past two hours. Harry hadn't come through that door; not ever. Pondering where he must have gone off to, she realized that she had given him the Draught of Peace and he must've used it.

"Oh, I think I know where I can find him!" She muttered to herself as she put on her black school cloak and went out the door.

Peering out from his hiding spot, Ron ran back to the dorm and got out his coat and almost made it to the common room entrance when Hermione popped out of no where.

"And where do you think you're going?" She asked pryingly.

"I just thought I'd get a bit of fresh air-" Ron lied as he tried to pass her, but she wouldn't have it.

"You're going to spy on her again, aren't you?" she somewhat angrily and disappointedly responded back.

"Hermione! Listen! I know you don't like the way I'm acting right now, but it's too long to explain; I have to go or I might lose her trail!"

Then, Hermione took Ron by the shoulders and pinned him against the closest wall, "You have to tell me what's going on NOW!"

The two fifth years looked at her alarmed and startled, and quickly ran up to the dorms, leaving them alone.

"Alright, but on the way; believe me Hermione, there are things about our new friend that not even Harry knows!"

"Whoa." Harry muttered as he walked bewildered through the dark forest. He had made it to the very spot that he and Delphine shared their first kiss.

It made him feel so good to be there again. Almost too good. Suddenly, Harry began to sweat and started loosing focus in the things around him. He dropped to his knees from the dizziness; the potion he took was far too strong. Just then, he thought he heard someone or something move past him.

Taking out his wand, he shouted lazily, "Who's there?"

No one answered. All was silent again. But then, Harry saw something walking towards him. All he could make out was a black figure; it was too hard to tell anything further. However, his ears picked up a whisper of what he believed to be Parseltongue.

He tried to hear what they were saying, but his head became like a balloon; as though it would burst. He held his head tightly; but at a no worse time the Lethifold slithered up to him. It watched it move as it made no trace whatsoever across the ground. Its mouth opened and it made a high pitched ring that was quite eerie.

But Harry wasn't worried, the Draught of Peace made sure of that. However, he wasn't well. His head burned in fury and the pain was far too unbearable. He couldn't see the figure in black anymore, but only the Lethifold.

Out of his torture, Harry screamed out into night, just as the Lethifold attacked.

"Expecto Patronum!" A scruffy voice yelled.

A brilliant flash appeared, and the Lethifold slithered off before Hagrid could catch it.

He ran over to Harry muttering, "Darn that Lethifold and its no trail! Are you alright 'Arry?"

But all Harry could feel was his head on fire. Without hesitation, Hagrid picked him up and began to carry him to the Hospital Wing.

Just after Hagrid took a few steps, Delphine showed up, "Harry! Oh God, Harry! Are you alright?"

"I don't think he can talk Delphine; somethins' wrong with 'em!"

The two hurried to the hospital wing. Just as they set Harry down in a bed with Madam Pomfrey ready to help, Ron and Hermione ran in.

"Harry! Harry, oh what do you-" Ron started to yell, but Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let him finish.

"Shh! I must have silence; he's got something in his system. I'll have to use the Cafquid (Definition: potion that ironically dissolves all potions poured into a witch or wizard in the last five hours or less) mixture to drain it out. No one can utter a word!"

They all waited as she pulled out a cup, smoking at the top, and poured it into Harry's mouth. He took a sip in his great torment, coughing afterwards.

Ron was about to speak, but again Pomfrey signaled not to until the substance had taken affect. Impatient, Hagrid left the room, probably to fetch Dumbledore. A few minutes passed, and the four waited for Harry to say something.

Delphine took Harry's hand desperately; in tears as she watched him struggle to breathe. But then, Harry opened his eyes and breathed anew. He sat up in bed and coughed as though he was revived from drowning.

Madam Pomfrey sighed at this; and took the cup away, leaving the three to tend to Harry.

"Oh Harry; I thought you weren't going to make it!" Del admitted grateful that he was okay.

Just then, Hagrid returned, but not with the headmaster. Professor Snape walked in behind him, in his typical outfit with his typical look. Parting the trio, he came very close to Harry, questioning, "Where is it?"

"Where's what?" Harry asked unknowingly and still very weak.

"The potion you took!" Snape snapped.

Not caring at the moment, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the vile, which had a few drops left. Snape grabbed it from him, and went over to the side table across the room to run tests on it.

Delphine looked at Snape nervously, but didn't peep a word that she had made it. Thankfully, Hermione broke the awkward silence, "I'm glad you're alright Harry! Tell us, what happened?"

"E was attacked by that Lethifold snake I told you two about again! There's something not right goin' on in that forest. 'Arry, why were you walking around in there at night, all alone?"

"I was just trying to clear my head. I took some Draught of Peace just to calm my nerves. Nothing big. But then, I started feeling strange; like my head was about to explode! I've never felt that way before when I've taken that potion! But then, I saw someone. All I could make out was someone wearing black cloak; summoning the Lethifold. Oh! They were speaking Parseltongue; I couldn't make out what they said, but it was obvious they wanted that thing to kill me!"

Hagrid pondered on this information and said, "I didn't see anyone out there 'Arry! Not anyone until Delphine came to help ya."

"Really? What a coincident!" Ron piped up finally.

"What do you mean Ron?" Harry asked confused.

"What I mean is, Delphine's been trying to be rid of you from the first time you two met!"

"Ron, you better shut up before I-" Harry tried to get up, but he was too weak and sat back down.

"OH NO! No one's interrupting me until I _prove _to you that she's behind this!"

"Ron, I wouldn't try to hurt Harry, I-" Delphine tried to confront him, but Hermione stopped her.

"No you don't! You listen well!" apparently, Hermione was no on Ron's side.

And so, Ron's story began, "I don't believe you know much about her family, do you Harry?"

"Yes I do! Her dad worked for the Ministry for years. He was an Auror!"

"Yes, but did you know that he was also a Slytherian?" Ron asked without waiting for an answer.

"Not only that. But Astin Waldgrave had been in contact with those such as Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew. _And_ sources claimed that he was a Death Eater. So, in being loyal to He-who-must-not-be-named, he was suddenly killed. It's not known who did it to this day; but I believe the other Aurors found out he was a traitor and had a fight in which he lost.

"In finding out of her father's death, Delphine Waldgrave changed dramatically. She didn't talk to anyone, not a soul for over a year. But then, one day, it turns out that Harry fails his potions exam and has to spend the whole summer here. Who better to teach than Snape? Well, Delphine knew that this was her chance to weasel in and talk to Dumbledore about teaching him over that summer to 'prove her loyalty to both him and the school'.

"Of course Dumbledore accepts it; and over the summer Delphine lures Harry into her trap. She fools him into believing she is just misunderstood and really is a good soul. But what about the Draught of Peace?"

At that moment, Snape came walking back and looked from Ron to Harry and landed her eyes on Delphine, "This has the beginning affects of the Peace; however, through thorough analyzing, the Ambritous Potion is stronger here. It causes the drinker to become very weak; having no power over the mind and could ultimately kill them if not taken care of within an hour. Thankfully, we got _you_ here in time Potter."

Harry was so overwhelmed by the information; he didn't know what to say. Delphine was about to speak, but Ron cut her off, "Oh! I almost forgot! One other thing that ties all of this together! Like Hagrid said, Delphine was the only one close to the scene of the crime this very night. Notice two things: first, she is dressed in a black cloak. Second: it is known to everyone that Astin Waldgrave could speak Parseltongue; and since he had a daughter well, you can figure out the rest!"

Ron, Hermione, Harry, Hagrid, Snape, and Madam Pomfrey all stared at Delphine Waldgrave. She looked upon all of them in disbelief, "I can't believe what I'm hearing! This is insane!"

"No," Harry said in a low voice, "It makes perfect sense."

"Harry, no! You can't believe this! My father may have been a Slytherian and could speak Parseltongue, but he wasn't a Death Eater! I can't even speak Parseltongue! You have to believe me; I'd never hurt you. Harry, I'm in love with you; you have to believe me!"

For the very first time; Harry looked upon Delphine as though she were Lord Voldemort himself, "You blinded me all summer with your lies and potions. Never _ever_ speak to me or come near me again. You have slithered your way into my life; I'm a fool for believing you. Go, tell your 'Lord' that you failed in killing me; but you did break me in the process! GO!"

Delphine backed up all during this, tears running down her face. With a quick gasp, she ran out the door and down the hallway. Harry felt a wave of betrayal and rage sweep over him; he was truly fooled by a lying, vengeful little girl.


	9. The Unintended Sacrifice

The next three days in the hospital wing passed incredibly slowly. All Harry could do was lay there and think about the summer over and over. Everything in his head that Ron had explained to him was becoming more blatantly obvious the more he went over it. He had never felt so played in all his life. Because, Delphine had ripped out his heart.

"How are you feeling today Harry?" He turned and saw Dumbledore, standing next to his bed.

Straightening up in bed, he murmured a "fine sir" gloomily. He was far from fine. The wise old man made a small sad smile at him and apologized, "I'm sorry to have heard about Miss Waldgrave."

"I don't want to talk about _her_ Professor; not now, not ever," he said without hesitation.

"Ah, I see," Dumbledore took off his half-moon shaped glasses and began to clean them on his blue robes, "But still, I feel obligated to inform you that the young Miss Waldgrave has disappeared from school grounds."

Harry's head shot up, suddenly filling him with curiosity.

"Yes. The last time anyone saw her was the night you were brought in here. I've contacted her mother, but there is not yet any trace of the girl."

Harry grumbled, "She's probably off cowering before Voldemort for forgiveness!"

Dumbledore let silence fill the room for a moment. Then he faintly replied, "Are you completely sure of that?"

With a stone face, Harry crossed his arms and affirmed, "I have no doubt in my mind."

Putting his glasses back on his wrinkled face, Dumbledore looked deeply into Harry's bitter eyes, "I know that the evidence given to you the other night was quite convincing Harry. And to be perfectly honest, almost everyone believes that to be true of Delphine's father. However, I do not perceive what is said of him by many wizards and witches in this world to be accurate."

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing, "No; he was evil! He was a Slytherian and had contact with Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew!"

Dumbledore thought of the right words to say, "Astin had many visits from Lucius at the Ministry of Magic before his death two years ago. However, I had spoken with Astin about this. You see, he had an advantage to being a Slytherian and was able to talk with those like Lucius. No one had known Lucius was a Death Eater until this past year. And as for Pettigrew; he was Ron's rat for many years. It wasn't until three years ago that he escaped his prison. There was no proof that they had any contact. The publicity and the Ministry were only curious of Astin because he was a Slytherian who could speak Parseltounge; even though he tried to keep that under wraps.

"I was his headmaster all seven years here at Hogwarts. Knew him very well. Was never much for crowds of people; which seemed to be Delphine's path recently. He was a good man that knew he could be influential in finding Voldemort through others he was at school with. He used this as an auror. The only problem that I find in Astin is that his body was found not too far from Tom Riddle's village."

"What?" Harry's mind was spinning.

"Yes; the very place you found yourself at the end of the triwizard tournament. _Four_ _months_ after Astin Waldgrave was found. But no one in the Daily Prophet could tell you that. The Ministry wanted to keep the exact location under wraps because Cornelius Fudge didn't want anyone getting in a panic that Voldemort might be back. So, everyone believes he was found in the countryside somewhere. That's even what I told Delphine and her mother. That's what you saw in my pensieve.

"However, a few weeks later, Delphine came back into my office. She looked completely different, mannerisms and all. Looking into her eyes I could see that she hadn't slept in days. She knew that there was something I wasn't telling her. She was desperate to know what exactly happened. I explained that he was killed with the worst of the three most deadly spells. And then I told her where he was found. It seemed to satisfy her, and looked in the months to come that she would be over her father's death soon.

"But this came to a halt when you brought Cedric's body out from the maze. You cried to me for help and that Voldemort was alive. Delphine was convinced that her father was murdered by Voldemort. However, she didn't decline in anything for that matter. In fact, she excelled in all her classes; especially Potions and Defense against the Dark Arts. But it worried be that she would try to take revenge on him on day.

"Except, one day, I saw her smiling again. It was with you Harry. I've never seen her as happy as she's been with you. And she might be right; Voldemort could be responsible for her father's death. All I know is that Astin was a true friend and caring father. He wanted to stop Voldemort and anyone else that would threaten the wizarding world; all the while trying to cope with a teenage daughter. And as for Delphine, I believe she has put her vengeance away."

Harry was completely lost. In the past week he's gotten so many mixed meanings of who Delphine is and what she has to do with Voldemort. All Harry could say was, "Can you explain her disappearance then?"

Dumbledore smiled calmly, "Harry, over the summer, do you remember when you came to me about Delphine being gone from the school?"

He thought about it, "Yeah; she went home to her mother before I could even apologize about the night before."

Looking over his half moon-shaped glasses, Dumbledore asked, "What did you say to her that night?"

Realizing his mistake as he said it, Harry tensed up, "I accused her of working for Voldemort and being evil!"

"Exactly. And three nights ago…"

"The same situation happened. But it was much worse. I told her I never wanted to see her again!"

Harry looked around the room. There was too much to know, and so little to believe in. He didn't know whether to believe his best friends or his one true mentor. But his thoughts were cleared when Dumbledore placed his hands on the boy's shoulders to make Harry focus on him.

"I know you can't start to believe in what I have told you because there has been so much controversy over this. But Harry, that girl is frightened somewhere off school grounds. Regardless of her father she is a student at this school and is missing. Hogsmeade hasn't had anyone come through there which is the only town with transportation out here.

"There is only one place she could be and I know how many times you have set foot in that place. Harry, you must think hard about this; without anyone else's input you must make up your own mind about Delphine Waldgrave. She needs our help; she needs _your_ help!"

Harry lowered his gaze to the bottom of Dumbledore's robes in a still shift. The old man knew the boy didn't have the words to say what he was thinking so he nodded his head and rose from Harry's bedside, "I'll leave you be; you've had a lot to put up with for the past few days!"

But as Dumbledore walked to the door, Harry spoke up, "Headmaster?"

He turned, "Yes Harry?"

The boy questioned a moment to himself, and then became confident that he could ask, "How do you know someone truly loves you when they tell you that they do?"

Dumbledore didn't look at all surprised at Harry's question. He merely formed a crinkle of a smile and replied, "From my experience, I believe that love is not simply said, but also supported with action. An act of pure devotion and affection. That's the only time I was ever sure."

Harry sighed at his answer. An act of devotion? As soon as Delphine told Harry she loved him, he immediately rejected her, so he didn't really get a chance to be sure of it. So, it left him stranded in confusion still.

"Well, there is only an hour left until the sun is gone. The time until then should be used wisely; goodnight Harry," Dumbledore then closed the door, leaving Harry alone in the wing.

Thinking of Dumbledore's last remark, he looked out the window. The sun was setting on the last official day of summer; tomorrow, fall would begin. Harry did not understand what Dumbledore meant by his last words, only that he meant something important by it.

And still Harry sat there, pondering and wondering. Harry knew Dumbledore was right about one thing: he had to make up his own mind about Delphine. So, he closed his eyes and poured out all the other voices that were repeating over and over in his head. He was left with his own thoughts. He had to think of Delphine; what of Delphine?

He took himself back to the day he first bumped into her; how shy and secluded she was. He thought of the night he followed her and watched her pin Malfoy to the wall and threaten to turn him back into a chicken.

The night she saved Harry's and Hagrid's life. That giant snake would've killed them if she hadn't conjured her patronus. And it was a Phoenix! A phoenix isn't considered evil or vengeful. And Delphine couldn't have changed her own patronus.

Besides, she was always nice to him. Even when he went into her pensive. He watched her looking down at him at the ball. He remembered her words, "I felt out of place with everyone I was around. But then, I noticed you. I knew at that moment if I had come up to you that night, you would understand me."

Harry took a deep breath. His sixteenth birthday. They kissed that night in the forest. Oh, how he relished in the memory. And then when school started, she tried to break it off. She wanted him to do as he pleased. She really did care for him.

"Bloody Hell, I'm an idiot!" He jumped out of bed and ran through the doors, down the hall, up the stairs, past the corridor and ran up to his dorm. Quickly, he changed and rummaged through his things for his wand. Just as he found it he heard the door shut behind him. Ron was standing there.

"What are you doing out of the hospital wing? Are you better already?" Ron seemed unaware at what Harry was about to do.

"I'm fine. That doesn't matter now. I have to get going." He slipped on his black jean jacket and headed for the door.

"Where?" Ron followed him down the stairs.

"Delphine's out in the woods all alone because of me. I have to go out there and find her!"

Ron couldn't believe it, "I don't believe it! Yeah she hasn't shown up for class, but she could just be crying in the girls' bathroom with Moaning Myrtle!"

Harry stopped in the common room abruptly and turned to Ron, "No she's not! Dumbledore said they haven't found her anywhere on campus or in any nearby towns! She's out there; like it or not, I'm going. And I'd appreciate all the help I could get."

Ron looked at Harry bewildered, "But Harry, she's evil-"

"She's NOT evil! I know!"

"Oh really? You know? HOW HARRY? Did she come up to you wearing a sign saying 'not evil'? I didn't see one; so how do you know she's not?"

Harry grasped his wand in his hand tightly, sure of it, "Because I love her."

Ron was speechless. He didn't know what to say, "I-I don't know what to say!"

Just then, Hermione approached them as she put on her violet coat, "You never do Ron, that's why you can't talk to girls!"

She walked up to Harry, looking at him head-strong, "I'll go with you Harry."

"Thank you." He said in but a whisper.

The two looked back at Ron, and Hermione said, "Well?"

Ron was grumbling under his lips, but then sighed, "Alright, I'm with you two."

"No one's forcing you to go Ron; if you don't believe in me, don't go." Harry replied.

Ron pulled his grey beanie out of his coat pocket and put it on his head, "You've never given me a reason not to believe in you these past six years Harry. I won't start now."

They each cracked a smile, and then ran out of the Gryffindor common room. By that time, there was only a half hour left of light before they would be in the darkness. As they ran out of the courtyard and approached the forest, they stopped.

"Ok, before we go any further, do you have any idea where to start looking? It's not like this place isn't bigger than the city of London!" Ron breathed heavily.

"He's right Harry. You must think of where she would most likely be in there. However, I don't know where you could go in there to feel a sense of security!" Hermione added.

Harry thought about over in his head. And then, he got it, "Rainy!"

He ran towards the lake. Hermione and Ron exchanged bizarre looks, "Rainy?"

They caught up with him by the lake and watched him put his fingers to his mouth and whistle. The three waited a minute, and nothing happened. Slowly, Ron asked, "Harry, what was that all about?"

"Look!" Harry said in excited relief to see Rain fly out from behind the trees the winged stallion flew down before them and landed gracefully.

"It's a granian!" Hermione couldn't believe it.

Ron looked at Harry curiously as he and Hermione got on the horse, "Ok, whose horse is and when did I miss this all?"

"It's a long story; I'll explain later. Just get on!" Harry said in haste.

Ron got behind Hermione and gulped, "The one thing I hate worse than spiders is HEIGHTS!"

He screamed as they flew up into the air. Rain knew exactly where to go, which Harry had hoped for. Soon, they landed on the grassy knoll that Delphine had brought him to months before.

The three got off the granian and looked around. No one was there. Hermione looked around, "Where are we?"

"I've been here before. Delphine said she started coming here a lot. I figured it's where she'd be."

"Umm, Harry, you know that giant snake you were telling us about?" Ron asked.

"Yes Ron, the Lethifold. Why do you ask?" Harry responded as he looked around.

"Do they uh, only come out in the dark?"

"Umm, I believe so. Why do you keep asking me about it?"

"Well, not to worry you but, the sun's set!" Ron pointed out west.

He was right, the little light they had, was now gone. The three lit lights on the ends of their wands and kept looking around.

"Del! Del!" Harry looked desperately for her.

"Don't do that Harry! Lethifold's are blind, not deaf!" Hermione warned.

"Well how else am I going to find Delphine?" He asked stubbornly.

"I-I don't know!"

"I don't mean to worry you guys, but do you hear that noise?" Ron asked trembling.

Hermione walked over to him and listened. Harry kept searching for Delphine, with his ears open. But then, they all heard it. It was the same screech Harry had heard the last time he was near the Lethifold. Quickly, he ran back to the knoll.

However, he stopped before he raced through the brush. Just on the other side was the Lethifold. It screeched in its high pitch as it approached Ron and Hermione. Ron cast a spell to draw it away, but it wasn't a patronus. They jumped onto Rain and flew up in the air.

"Harry!" They about to fly over to him, but he stepped back over a patch of pinecones.

Immediately, the Lethifold heard him and slithered towards him. In a panic, he turned and ran deep into the woods. He looked up over the trees, but he couldn't find Ron and Hermione anywhere.

It was up to him to get out of this mess. The lethifold was slowly gaining on him. Finally, he stopped and turned to face the snake. He could see it open it's mouth to reveal another head inside, and then another in that.

But he didn't focus on that; he focused on, "CRUCIO!"

Pointing his wand straight at its heads, Harry cast the torturing spell on the Lethifold. A fiery orange blast from his wand and he saw as the snake stopped and began to squirm. Keeping his right arm steady, he picked up a log with his free hand and approached the creature.

Once he was close enough, he released the lethifold from the spell and took the log in both his hand and swung down on its head. After only two blows, the Lethifold was dead. Harry dropped the log and exhaustedly wandered through the woods.

"Hermione! Ron!" He yelled.

But no one was around. He had no idea where to go. He had to find Del. But then, another idea came into his mind. Delphine could be at the spot Harry and she first kissed, the night of his birthday. He looked up at the stars to find his way, and then turned left, sure he was right.

After a few minutes of steadfast running, even in his condition, he made it to their spot. But, he could not see her anywhere. But suddenly, he heard the crack of a tree limb. He crept past a giant tree and looked around cautiously, wand at the ready.

Then suddenly, a great red spark barely missed his left shoulder.

Looking out through the trees, he saw _him_. Voldemort walked with a terrible glide towards Harry, declaring, "I missed you on purpose, Potter. That was a warning shot, but I won't miss again!"

Harry prepared to block his curse. However, Voldemort was too fast for him. With a flick of his left hand, Voldemort cast Harry's wand away from him. Harry ran for the wand, but tripped over a large root coming out from the great tree behind him.

Suddenly, the scene became familiar to Harry. His nightmare was happening, _really_ happening. He quickly looked up and saw Voldemort laughing, still at a distance, but ready to finish him.

"Now, Potter, I will dispose of you in a very extraordinary way!"

Harry felt like a child; a poor idiotic, defenseless child. Despite the premonition of this dream reoccurring again and again over the summer, Harry ignored the signs. He had brought himself into _his_ trap.

Then, Lord Voldemort raised his wand and uttered words Harry had heard from the dream, "_Percoma-toramos!_"

A great green flash left his black wand, heading straight for Harry's forehead. He clutched his hands tightly and closed his eyes. He had failed. Voldemort had won. Realizing his fear in defeat and death, Harry screamed out into the powerless night.

He felt a giant force come over him. It pushed him back against the great tree, hitting his head on it. There seemed to be weight pressing down on top of him. Then, the light of Voldemort's flash went out. However, besides hitting his head on the tree, Harry felt no pain. He only felt weight.

He tried to bring his hand to his face to rub his eyes, but something was keeping it down. He blinked his eyes open for the first time since the blow to see what precisely had happened.

Harry looked before him and gasped.

"NOO!" he screamed.

Voldemort's aim was perfect. It would have hit Harry square in the middle of his scar. That was, if it hadn't been for Delphine.

She blocked Voldemort's shot just in time. Harry leaned up and pulled Delphine's head to his lap. Her clothes were dirty and torn. Her hair was wild and free from being out in the woods for the past few nights. Her lips were still a perfect pale pink. Only, her eyes were shut tight. And, there was a mark on her head. There was a green mark in the top left corner of her forehead.

Harry checked to see if she was still breathing. She was. He was about to wake her until he heard footsteps.

"Ah, I see you and Waldgrave's kid have become quite close since I saw you last. What a disappointment Astin was; I expected much more from him then becoming an auror and trying to stop me! I remember that faithful day that he almost did. It was about two years ago, in that very graveyard where I was reborn before you Harry. However, I wasn't strong enough to kill him myself, so, I had Wormtail do it. I think its better that way though; he wasn't worthy of dying by my wand!"

Harry couldn't be angrier at the dark lord, "What did you do to her?"

The dark one laughed devilishly and told him, "Just something I conjured up especially for you. Now that she's gone and ruined that, I'll have to try it again!"

But before Voldemort even raised his wand, sparks flew from out of the trees. Voldemort was hit slightly on the shoulder, and quickly retreated. But as his black cloak disappeared into the darkness, Harry could see his red eyes and hear his voice, "I will come after you again Potter, and there will be no interruptions this last time!"

And he was gone.

Dumbledore and the aurors came out from the trees looking for the dark lord, but missed him just barely. Ron and Hermione found them all and landed on the ground with Rain.

But Harry didn't see them. He placed his hand on Delphine's warm cheek and called to her, "Del, Del. Wake up. Please wake up."

Her eyes didn't open. Tears began streaming down Harry's cheeks. He shook her gently, "Del! Please wake up! Wake up! DELPHINE!"

He took the girl in his arms weeping. He shivered as he thought she might be dead. But how could she be? She was breathing.

"Harry," Dumbledore took his shoulder gently, "We have to get her to the Wing immediately. You must let go."

Obediently, he did, letting a couple aurors take her up to the wing. Dumbledore helped Harry up and they followed as well. He didn't stop to look at Ron or Hermione. He didn't even look up at Remus Lupin or Madeye Moody who were there. He just walked beside Dumbledore, not uttering a word.


	10. Nobody Said It Was Easy

**Author's Note:** Hey fanfic readers! I'd just like to give a thanks to Hockeyman for all the great reviews! Also, there are a few lines in here that should sound somewhat familiar to you if your big on great lyrics. You'll see what I mean! Thanks!

Fairytaledreamer**

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Just as the aurors, Dumbledore, and Harry had entered the castle, Ron and Hermione hurried further behind. 

"Did you see what was wrong with her?" Ron asked Hermione as they entered the castle.

"No, the others were in the way. All I could make of it was that she was unconscious on the ground; that she wouldn't wake up."

"Obviously, since Harry was shouting for her to 'wake up'! I think you're losing your stuck-up brainy edge Hermione; even I could have made up a cleverer answer than that one!"

Stubbornly, Hermione grumbled and stopped in her tracks, causing Ron to almost bump into her. She slowly turned and harshly put, "Ron, how could you be so apathetic and callous at a time like this? Stop with your acrimony and help me help Harry!"

She turned around again and began moving more hastily than before. Ron stood there for a few moments, pondering the words in his head, "Acrimony? Bloody Hell Hermione; you _really_ haven't changed all that much!"

Up at the Hospital Wing, Remus and Madeye set Delphine down in one of the beds. Dumbledore brought Madam Pomfrey to see if she knew what might be wrong with the girl. She checked her pulse and said, "She is alive; but her heartbeat is slower than normal."

She checked for any sign of mystical injuries, but couldn't find any, "I'm going to give her a little bit of moonstone and aconite; it can awaken anyone that's unconscious!"

Dumbledore went with her to help with the potion. Remus put a hand on Harry's shoulder, as the young boy held desperately onto Delphine's cool hand. Ron and Hermione finally made it to the Wing and quickly went towards Harry, knelt next to the bed.

Just at that time, Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore came out with the goblet with a silvery purple liquid inside of it.

"Harry, please step aside for Madam Pomfrey." Dumbledore asked.

Harry got up slowly, standing next to Ron and Hermione. Dumbledore gently opened Delphine's mouth as Madam Pomfrey poured a sip of the remedy in. They closed her mouth and waited until she swallowed it. She did. They waited to see if there would be any reaction before trying to give her more moonstone and aconite.

Everyone was silent; waiting. As the seconds passed, Harry became more and more nervous. She couldn't die; she can't. She would be okay. She had to be.

Just as these thoughts swept over him, Delphine coughed a little bit. And then a bigger cough. And then an even bigger cough. After that, she began convulsing in the bed. Without even an eyelid opening, she spit out the medicine and her body went back to its frozen state. Everyone was confused by this. Madam Pomfrey grasped the medicine tightly and touched Delphine's face lightly.

As soon as she did Delphine's body went crazy. She tossed and turned over an over; as though her body as possessed. Madam Pomfrey took her hand off the girl and moved away. Harry was so scared that he moved towards her, almost taking her hand.

However, Dumbledore quickly held him back and warned, "No! She cannot be touched now! I'm not entirely sure, but I believe once we tried helping her with potions, her body went into a stage where no one can touch her. Voldemort obviously wanted no one to help his victim out of their state when he created this dreadful spell. I must bring the best help to her. I will send for Gatsby. Whatever you do; do not touch her!"

Harry let himself go of Dumbledore's grasp and reluctantly obeyed. Dumbledore left the room, with Madeye and the other aurors following. On his way out, Remus whispered an, "I'm sorry Harry."

Disturbed and upset that the remedy didn't wake the girl, Madam Pomfrey sighed and took the medicine away. Ron and Hermione stood there, watching Harry before the girl. As the suspense built inside of them of what Harry would do, they were distressed when they watched him fall to his knees at Delphine's bedside. He dropped his head into his hands; crying for her. Hermione couldn't stand to watch it and hid herself in Ron's sweater; crying herself. Ron held Hermione tenderly; his heart ripping inside his chest as he watched his best friend suffer.

How could anyone cure Delphine if she cannot be touched?

The sun rose after that faithful night; revealing a blood red sun. Ron and Hermione had fallen asleep in the bed beside Delphine. Ron still held Hermione close. Between the beds, Harry was sitting up against the wall, awake. His eyes were bloodshot and his appearance was ghastly. All he could do was play the scene over and over again in his head.

The green flash, his evil eyes. Harry cowered as the bolt struck. He flew backwards, but not hit. Delphine was there. She saved his life.

No no. That's not how it went. The green flash, Harry stood up. He saw Delphine running towards him. He pushed her out of the way in the nick of time. They were both safe. She would have sacrificed herself for him; but he saved them both. He held her tightly as the frightened Voldemort ran away. She was safe.

Just then, the swing of a door snapped Harry back to the Hospital Wing. He stood up slowly as Dumbledore, McGonagall and a tall dark man came towards the bed.

"Harry, this is Gwydion Gatsby. He is the best Wizarding Doctor alive today. If anyone can cure Miss Waldgrave; he's the one you want."

Gatsby was a tall, brutish man that looked as though he was from Russia. He briefly said, "Hello." in a thick Russian accent.

He wasted no time and went over to Delphine. At this time, Hermione and Ron had woken up. They all watched as the doctor examined the girl. Very gently, he touched the Delphine's hand.

Almost leaping, Delphine's body shook; harder and worse than before. Harry was about to kill the man, but Ron and Hermione held him back.

"Uh-huh, I see!" Gatsby seemed more intrigued than concerned for Delphine's state. This made Harry fume with anger, but did nothing as the two held him back.

"Harry, you and the others should wait outside. I will fetch you when we know anything." Professor McGonagall told them.

An hour went by as the trio sat outside the wing. Classes had started for the day, and students would walk past the wing, curious to what was going on. However, if anyone stopped and stared for a while, Harry would shout at them to go away. Ron and Hermione didn't utter a word to him; he was too distressed at this point.

Finally, McGonagall opened the doors and shut them behind her. She told them, "Dr. Gatsby ran what tests he could without touching Delphine, but he couldn't make out a lot of it. He-who-must-not-be-named created a spell he didn't want cured or identified. Also, Gatsby wanted to take Delphine to a hospital ward over in London, but when they tried to teleport Delphine in her bed, it wouldn't move.

"So, we cannot take her anywhere; she will remain in the hospital wing closed off from other injured students. Ron, Hermione, you should go back to your dormitories. You all have excused absences from your classes today. Get some rest. Harry, please come with me."

Ron and Hermione left, and Harry followed McGonagall into the Wing. Delphine's bed was closed off from the rest of the room, and Harry found Dumbledore and Gatsby waiting for him.

Abruptly, the doctor asked Harry, "Boy, do you know what he-who-must-not-be-named said as he cast the spell on Delphine?"

Annoyed and upset, Harry snapped, "Yes. It was something like 'Pera-coma toramos' I think. And the spell wasn't meant for Delphine; it was meant for me. Voldemort was trying to kill me! I'm the one that should be lying there; not her!"

Gatsby cringed at the Dark Lord's name. But Dumbledore did not, he came towards Harry calmly and said, "I know Harry; it's alright. Come."

He took Harry to Delphine's bed, hidden behind dark blue sheets. There she was, just as she had been when she first fell unconscious. Dumbledore laid two hands on Harry and looked him in the eyes, "You must go back to your room and get rest. Tomorrow, your classes will resume and you will go to them, _all_ of them. I think its best that you wait a while until coming to see Delphine. You are still in a state of shock, and I want you to try to get your life back to normal. I know it will be hard, but you have to try Harry. I will leave you to talk to her for just a moment."

Dumbledore patted his shoulder and shut the curtains behind him when he left. Harry turned to Delphine, laying there. He went over to her bedside and reached out for her hand. But then he remembered and took his hand away just an inch before touching her. Tears ran down his face; he didn't know how to handle this. Delphine could die.

It was different from his parents' death. He was too young to remember seeing it. And Sirius's death he didn't see either; only his corpse remained. But this; this was worse. He had to watch her slowly die. Unless, the pig of a doctor Gatsby could cure her. But Harry was full of doubt.

Finding what little strength he had left, he told her, "Nobody said it was easy. Oh God, it's a shame for us to have to part. Please Delphine, tell me you love me; come back to me, don't haunt me! No one ever said it would be this hard. Oh take me back to the start."

Harry held himself up from the ground, but couldn't fight back the tears. All he wanted to do was to start over from the beginning; fall in love with her right and treat her like an angel. This was too much to bear. Finally, Harry came out from through the curtains and went back to his dorm room. He didn't look up at Ron who was in there. He just went to his bed and laid down. He didn't sleep for a week.


	11. Ron & Hermione's Story

The next two months dragged on slowly for Harry. On the other hand, Ron was feeling very rushed. The sixth years had begun preparing for the NEWT exam that they would take after their seventh year ends.

As bad as Ron felt for Harry, he didn't know how to handle his state besides ignore it (Harry wouldn't talk about Delphine or the situation) and go on with preparing for the exams.

"I don't know how Snape expects me to pass this test; just look at the size of my Defense book alone!" Ron slammed down a gigantic book in the library where Hermione and Neville were sitting.

"Calm down Ron; it's not as bad as you think. I mean, I read a book over the summer twice that size! If I can do it, so can you." Hermione stated.

Neville chuckled, "No offense Ron, but I think Harry has a better chance at passing this than you, even in his state!"

Ron shook his head annoyed, "You're a bookworm Granger; you love to read and study and do well in your classes; _especially_ well on your exams. I'm not the same studier you are; and there's no way I'm going to be unless you help me!"

"Help you? How can I possibly help you? Ron, you will do fine on the exams if you just take notes, pay attention in class, do the homework, and study! That's all you really need to do to pass."

"One problem Granger, I don't do those things well!" Ron argued.

"No, you don't do them _period_!" Hermione argued back.

"Uh, guys might want to keep it down!" Neville continued to whisper as the librarian looked over her shoulder at the trio.

"I do try to do well; you're just too busy sucking up to the professors to even notice that!"

Hermione huffed angrily and slammed her books on the table when she stood up, "I cannot believe you Ron Weasley; no I will not help someone so undeserving as you!"

She gathered her belongings and stomped out of the library. At this point, the rest of the students were watching Ron and Neville.

"Fine! You're not wanted; I can do this on my own!" Ron proclaimed, without the slightest convincement to himself. He too grabbed his books and left.

Nervously, Neville looked around at the other students and said, "Uh, umm, oh, just go back to your reading why don't you?" he stood up and moved to the Herbology section, confused on what in the Hell just happened.

On the Eve of Christmas Break, things between Ron and Hermione were starting to become obvious to Harry, even in his state.

While in Dark Arts, Harry leaned over to Ron as they worked on an in class essay about the situation, "So, you're still not speaking to her?"

:"No! She thinks I'm an imbecile and I'm through with her nagging at me all the bloody time. It's annoying you know!"

"As are you Mr. Weasley; now get back to work!" Snape snapped and hit Ron on the head with a piece of parchment.

"Well, at least you won't have to worry about her much longer; the break starts tomorrow. I'm definitely staying at school too; its been over a year since I've seen the Dursleys and I want to hold up to that as long as I can!"

"Oh that's right! And I'll be here with ya too; Dad's taking Mum on a trip to the Virgin Islands. It's for their anniversary I think. But we'll have a wicked time here for two weeks! No teachers, no homework-"

"No talking!" Hermione whispered hoarsely from across from them. Ron gave her an evil glare, and she returned it without hesitation.

A few minutes later, Ron ended the conversation with Harry whispering, "I don't know if I can last that long until break!"

And then the break came. Ron went down to the Gryffindor common room and jumped on a sofa, "Oh, its good to have to worries at all!"

"The only thing I'd be worried about is that special project Snape gave you yesterday for not staying on task in class yesterday!"

'It can't be!' Ron thought in his head. But as soon as he looked up over the couch behind him, his heart sink. It was her. She was there.

Sitting up, Ron argued, "You can't be here! It's Christmas; you should be going home for the break!"

Hermione put down her bags and stated, "I was, but my parents got some urgent news at the very last minute and have to travel to India tonight. They won't be home at all for Christmas, so I decided to stay here at school."

She picked up her bags and started up the stairs. Unbelievingly, Ron followed, "But you can't! I have plans!"

"Oh really? What do you plan to do?" Hermione questioned.

Ron thought for a moment, and confessed, "Nothing really. But, that doesn't matter! It's just, well, oh, I uh,"

Ron really didn't know what to say, or how he felt. The thought of having Hermione here was aggravating, but made the break more interesting. 'No, don't think like that!' Ron thought to himself.

And without a response, Ron turned and went into the boys' dorm. Hermione sighed and went into the girls' dorm.

A few days later, Harry and Ron were enjoying each others company at lunch. However, Ron quickly became silent when Hermione approached them.

Harry watched as she and Ron exchanged ugly glances again, and asked hastily, "What's up Hermione?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to give you your book back. Thank you for letting me borrow it." She pushed the book into Harry's hands and quickly turned and walked out of the Great Hall.

As he put the book on the table, Harry sighed, "This is getting ridiculous Ron."

"There's nothing ridiculous about this! What's ridiculous is _her_! She's driving me mad Harry; I don't know how much longer I can take it!"

They got up and walked through the hallway overlooking the courtyard. Harry looked out and saw Hermione, sitting on one of the benches around the snow, reading. She looked up as they passed, watching Ron relentlessly. Ron noticed her staring, and looked back at her as well. When Hermione saw Harry looking, she drew her eyes back to the old pages. Ron looked back down the hallway as well, sighing to himself. However, it was quite obvious to Harry.

"And, what was _that_ all about?" he questioned Ron curiously.

"Nothing! She was just staring at me! There's nothing I could do about it; I swear, she's a mental that one!"

He shook his head frustrated, "Ron, would you just shut up and admit that you two like each other already!"

As soon as he uttered the words, Harry's heart sank. He remembered that he had heard those words before.

'Blimey, those two are ridiculous!' Delphine said to Harry in the pensieve, watching the Yule Ball.

Harry looked down below, seeing Ron and Hermione fighting.

'Delphine, let me remind you that those are my friends!'

'No! I know that! I mean, the way they act towards each other! _They should just shut up and admit they like each other already_!'

Breathing deeply, Harry closed his eyes for a moment, remembering that night. God, just remember her; seeing her face in his head again. He felt as though he'd be sick.

Feebly, Harry hurried down the hallway back to the common room, but Ron wasn't following him.

As soon as Harry said those words aloud, Ron had frozen. 'Me liking _her_?'

Ron looked out into the courtyard again. Hermione was still sitting there, reading her book. He stood there for a while; just watching her. He didn't know how to comprehend it. No one had ever said that to him before. He had never even thought of her that way before. Suddenly, Ron was frightened.

The next day, Harry and Ron went to visit Hagrid who had made supper for them.

"This is brilliant Hagrid, thanks for having us over," Harry said as he stared at the food on his plate. Still a little under the weather, Harry gulped as he scanned over the dinner.

"Sure thing Harry; it's me pleasure. I wonder why Hermione's runnin' late though. Suppose she's alright?" Hagrid asked.

"You invited Hermione?" Ron asked faintly.

"Of course I did; she's your friend still in't she?"

Just then, Hermione stepped in from the snowy weather, "Sorry I'm late, it's gotten worse outside!"

"That's alright, come on, we haven't started yet."

Hermione sat down; she looked across the table at Ron. Still unsure of himself, Ron never looked at her; he never said a word the entire meal.

Right before the trio left, Hagrid asked, "Uh, Harry, would you stay behind for a bit? I wanted to speak with ya about somethin'."

"Sure Hagrid."

Ron and Hermione looked at each other awkwardly, and then went out the door. The wind and snow surrounded them as they struggled up towards the castle.

Suddenly, a huge gust of wind blew by them. Hermione screamed as she felt herself fall back. However, she stopped when she felt two arms grab hold of her and pull her back. Still holding onto her, Ron walked them back into the warm castle.

When they were inside, he let go of her and shut the door. Without hesitation, he began walking up the stairs to the common room. Hermione, blown away by his action, confronted him, "What was _that_ all about?"

But Ron said nothing. He didn't even look at her; he just kept going.

Growing furious, Hermione got in front of him, "Hey! What's going on? The last time I remember all you get joy out of is by yelling at me! What is it? A change of heart?"

Ron's face again went back to the frozen, frightened scare. Not above a whisper, he told her, "I am sorry for fighting with you. It was cruel and I hope you forgive me."

And with that, he walked past her and up into his room. Still standing there, Hermione stood, frozen herself, "What what what?"

"So how you doin' Harry? Classes goin' alright this year?" Hagird asked, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.

"Fine, I guess." Harry said.

"Guess? What do you mean?"

"I guess it depends on the day. Some days I'm fine; paying attention and getting my work done. But then, things happen, and then all I can do is think of _her_; lying there, in God knows what kind of state. She could be in great pain and we wouldn't be able to detect it. Or, Voldemort could have made some sort of demented world and I couldn't do anything to save her! It was all my fault she's in that state in the first pl-"

"Harry! Harry! Calm down! Please, sit back down." Hagrid had put his hands on Harry's shoulders, to calm him. He had begun to have a panic attack.

"I'm, I'm sorry. But that's how it is. One day I'll be perfectly fine, and then the next day, I'm not sleeping or eating. Hagrid, she may never wake up." Harry hated saying those words, but he knew it to be the truth.

"Harry, contemplating over this won't help you at all. All you can hope for is the best, and try to live your life. You've got Qudditch going on, NEWTs to study for, and friends who are always going to be there for you. Right now, I think the best thing for you to do is to just try to worry your mind on other things. If you continue like this; you'll go mad!"

Harry grasped his cup tightly; he knew Hagrid's words were the correct ones. Taking a slow sip of pumpkin juice, Harry got up from his chair and then hugged Hagrid.

"Thank you for being here Hagrid." Harry did his best to stay strong and hold back his tears.

"Anythin' for you Harry. Now, I'll see you on Christmas mornin' okay? Remind Tweedle dee and tweedle dum that I'm makin' a Christmas breakfast for ya!"

"I will, goodnight Hagrid." Harry turned and left the cabin. When he returned to his bed, he struggled to find peace.

Darkness. It swallowed Harry as he wandered through the darkness. He wish he could see where he was. But then, he heard a scream. He heard someone screaming his name.

"Harry! Harry! Wake up!" Ron hit Harry in the face with a pillow.

Surprised, Harry fell out of bed uncontrollably, "Ron! Why'd you do that?"

"It's Christmas Potter! Happy Christmas!" They ran out of the dorm and down the stairs.

They greeted Hermione and began opening their presents from their parents. Harry was very happy to find that he had more presents this year then any year ever before. And in this excitement, he forgot completely about the dream he had awoken from.

Around sunset that very same day, the trio walked the grounds of the snow-covered school; admiring the Christmas decorations. Then, they walked past a barren part of the castle, where above was the hospital wing. Looking up at one of the windows, Harry saw that a light was on. A light where Delphine was lying.

"Guys, I have to go!" Harry raced into the building before they could even respond.

"Wha-" Hermione couldn't even begin to chase after him he was so fast.

Looking up at Ron, they both shrugged and kept walking.

"It's so beautiful out here, isn't it?" she said.

Ron looked at her bravely, "I really think so."

She looked at him ponderingly. Ron began to sweat; even though it was cold, he was nervous. However, her face changed when she remembered, "I completely forgot! I kept it with me so that I wouldn't; but I guess better late than never!"

She handed him a long but skinny box. Ron smiled as he opened the gift, "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yes. It's a stereoscope. If you look through it, you can see what kind of people are approaching you. If they're unable to be trusted, they come out green. If they're angry with you, they come out red."

"But what if they're violet?" Ron asked.

"Violet? Hmm, let me think, oh yes! That means it is someone you can trust; but not just anyone, someone you really care about. Why do you ask?" Hermione asked, still looking at all the lights.

Ron held the stereoscope to his eye, and then quickly put it away when she answered him, "Oh, no reason. And uh, I have your gift too."

Hermione turned to face him and smiled, "Oh Ron, you didn't need to get me anything."

He pulled a hand sack out from his brown coat and handed it to her. When she opened it, Hermione gasped, "Oh Ron, its lovely!"

It was a pink beanie. She put in on top of her curly head. She fixed it and brushed some lint off of her navy coat, "How do I look?"

"You look positively pink!" He joked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. Taking a step closer to her, Ron placed a hand to her head, "No, it suits you."

Without thinking, Ron's hand moved down her hair over her face. Hermione got chills when he did this, and breathed in surprised. Realizing what he was doing, Ron began to pull his hand away, "Oh, I'm sorry!"

But then, Hermione placed her hand on his, and looked at him intensely, "I'm not."

Ron froze again. He didn't know what to think. His brain was completely full of NEWT exams and everything in between. But then, he found the courage to look into her soft brown eyes. Everything around Ron began to fade. His heart pounded and he gulped nervously. But he placed his hand back on her face.

Hermione smiled, but he knew she was nervous as well. They could see each other's fear. They understood each other without a word. When Ron smiled back, Hermione knew she was safe. And just as the snow began to fall, she kissed him. However, when telling the story later, Ron claims to have kissed her first.

Harry made his way to the Hospital Wing. He stopped in front of the closed doors. He hadn't seen Delphine since the doctor told him they didn't know what was wrong with her, or if they could cure her. But he couldn't think of that now; he had to be strong, for the both of them.

Carefully, Harry opened the door and walked into the wing. He couldn't see anyone in there. Then, he looked at the dark blues sheets surrounding Delphine's bed. The light inside was on, and a lone figure was moving about.

Cautiously, Harry moved towards the sheets. Instinctively, he held onto his wand that was hidden within his robes. And then, he opened the sheet to see a woman. She was sitting in a chair beside Delphine. When Harry entered she looked up at him with sad, black eyes. Her hair was black with a shine of purple in it. From her pale complexion and slender figure shown even with violet robes on, Harry could see it was Delphine's mother.

"You must be Harry," she said calmly.

Harry let go of his hand and pulled his hand out of his coat, "Yes, and you're Mrs. Waldgrave."

She got up and shook his hand gently, "It's good to finally meet you. I've heard a great deal about you from-"

She trailed off somberly. Harry looked at Delphine. She was the same as the last time he saw her. Only, her hair had grown a little.

"What are you doing here Mrs. Waldgrave? It's the middle of the night." Harry asked politely.

Sitting back in her chair, she looked at her daughter, "I wanted to spend Christmas with her. I know she can hear me. I just know it."

Trying to be respectful, Harry asked, "Have you met the doctor?"

"Oh yes; he's quite a pistol isn't he?"

Harry almost laughed, but he felt that it was lost he hadn't in so long. But he asked, "Any news about her, uh, state?"

Reluctant, she shook her head. A tear ran down her face and she said, "You know, for two years she wouldn't write me any letters while she was here at Hogwarts. I thought she was mad at me. She hasn't been the same since Astin…but, then you came along. As soon as you began to talk with her, she would write to me. She told me all about you Harry. And when she came home to visit me; she mentioned you were in a fight."

'Which one?' Harry thought, but kept on listening.

"But even then, she couldn't stop talking about you."

Just then, Harry felt Mrs. Waldgrave's hand on his. He looked at her whole heartedly when she said, "Thank you so much for making her so happy. If she doesn't make it, I couldn't think of anyone else that made her last days so wonderful."

Harry hung his head low with shame. He wasn't with her those last days. He had cursed her and she ran into the lonely woods. Harry felt completely guilty. Just then, Mrs. Waldgrave picked up something.

"Harry, this is for you. I know that Delphine would want you to have it," she had a black velvet cloth in her hand, and opened it to reveal Delphine's amethyst and onyx necklace.

"Where did you get that?" Harry asked.

"Dumbledore found it in the Forbidden Forest. It must've fallen off during everything." She said no more, but only handed it to him.

Taking it, Harry knew that he had to honor Delphine's mother's wises. So, he leaned over and hugged her, "Thank you Mrs. Waldgrave."

She hugged him tightly, Unable to hold back the tears. Harry breathed in deeply and hard; as difficult as it was to let go, he was glad to not be alone.

Much later that night, Harry walked through the portrait of the pink lady and into the Gryffindor common room.

It was dark with only a few candles lit, and Harry was too tired to stay downstairs and read. But as he went through the room, he heard a familiar noise. Turning and walking towards the couches by the fireplace, what Harry found was indescribable.

There they were, Ron and Hermione, snogging on the couch. Harry's eyes and mouth went wide and he gasped, "Ron? Hermione?"

Startled, the two pull away from each other, with looks like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Harry? What are you doing up so late?" Ron asked.

"Yes! We were just umm, studying some notes!" Hermione lied.

"And you gave him the information by pushing your faces together?"

"Wha-umm, I, well, it's kinda." Hermione scratched the back of her head, at a loss for words.

Ron looked at her disappointed, "Nice going; you're a real smooth operator!"

Just as he said that, Harry burst out laughing. He began to cry he was laughing so hard. Ron and Hermione looked at him puzzled.

"I think he's lost it!" Ron stated.

Harry wiped his eyes and began to calm down, "Woo! Thanks for that guys; good night! Oh, and a very happy Christmas to you both; but I think you already were! Ha ha!"

He went up the stairs, still reminiscing in the madness of the two. Ron and Hermione looked at each other awkwardly, and then Hermione admitted, "Well, finally we got that boy to laugh again. Just didn't know that _this_ would do it!"

"Hermione, I think anyone would think _this_ is funny!" Ron said.


	12. Believing the Impossible

Fortunately, things were looking up for Harry when January and February strolled around. He found most of his delight in the awkwardness of Ron and Hermione, who were very unsure of themselves whenever around Harry.

But, whenever they weren't around Harry, well, let's just say Harry heard some pretty funny things about the new couple.

Towards the end of February, everyone was gathered for the typical meal in the Great Hall. However, just as dessert was appearing on the students' plates, the Headmaster stood at the podium to say something.

With one look over his half moon-rimmed glasses, the room went quiet. A crinkle of a smile came over his left side, and then he announced, "As spring approaches, I know all of you are looking forward to the end of your year here at Hogwarts for the summer. However, it is not here yet, and the faculty and I have something extraordinary planned for you. March 21st marks the first day of spring. Another important event lands on that very date: the 1000th year that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has been in session. In honor of this, we will hold the March Masquerade. It will be at eight o'clock in the evening on that first day of spring. Formal attire is required along with a mask of your choosing. This is a _mandatory_ event. No escorts or 'dates' as you kids call them are needed; but you can have one if you so choose. That is all for this night; enjoy dessert!"

Absolutely every kid in the room was clueless to this 'ball' before Dumbledore announced it. Harry noticed that quite a few teachers were clueless to it as well. In particular, Professor Snape. But as Harry's thoughts turned curiously on the new Dark Arts teacher, his attention was drawn towards Ron.

"That's bloody wicked! An end of the year party!" he exclaimed.

"No Ron, it's a masquerade. It's much more formal; oh, and there will be dancing!" she smiled with delight of it.

Gazing at her for a moment, Ron pondered a minute, and then came out, "Hermione would you go-" but he stopped. Hermione knew what he was about to say, and so did everyone else around them.

However, Ron stopped himself before he said it, and looked at Harry. It was hard enough his best friend lost his girlfriend to a horrible spell, now he was breaking up the trio by dating their booksmart friend. Both Ron and Hermione ignored what Ron was about to say and went back to their desserts.

Conscious of the entire situation, Harry rolled his eyes and pat Ron on the back, "It's alright Ron. For the last time, I'm cool with it; you guys can date if you want to! And don't even say that you'll be breaking up the group Hermione; that won't happen. I know you two far too well. Go ahead Ron, ask her already!"

Ron and Hermione feebly looked at Harry still, but he smiled at them encouragingly. Finally, Ron took a deep breath for strength and held out his hand across the table towards Hermione, "Well, will you go with me to the ball?"

Grinning, Hermione replied, "After the Yule Ball, I thought you'd never ask. Of course I will!"

She took his hand, and Neville with quite a few Gryffindors clapped with merriment. Over at the Slytherian table, Draco watched disgustedly, "Oh please!"

"Do you think that she sent me the same ones?" Ron asked Harry as they made their way up to their room with Ron's and Harry's dress robes for the ball.

"You mailed your mum 'don't send me the same robes' at least five times; I think she'll get the message!" Harry grinned hopefully; only hoping that she had given him the same ghastly robes. It was so easy to poke fun at Ron nowadays.

Ron set the package down on his bed. Harry was glad that he still had his same robes from the Yule Ball; surprisingly, they still fit even after two years. Nervously, Ron untied the ribbon on the package and opened it. He closed his eyes; too scared to see what they would be.

Harry looked at them, and held in a laugh and said to Ron, "It's alright; they are the same _style_ as my robes. Just the normal tux scenario!"

"Oh good-NO!" Ron picked up his robes in disbelief. Harry was telling the truth, they were the same style as his own robes; however, the color was a beautiful baby blue.

Harry began to laugh despite the fact Ron punched him a few times in the shoulder. Ron looked at the collar of his robes that had a note pinned to it, '_Ron, you will wear these robes to the masquerade and you will like them. Do not complain to me or anyone else; especially Hermione, I'm sure she won't want to hear a word of it! Be a gentleman now._

_Mum'_

"This is horrific! I won't need to complain to Hermione; she'll complain to me about it. Wait! How does my mum know I'm going with Hermione? Does she know we're dating? _HARRY_!"

Ron turned on Harry accusingly. But Harry gave a defensive look, "I did nothing wrong mate! I did write your mum a letter; but it was only about me joining your family on your vacation this summer!"

Ron frowned and began putting his new robes away; feeling guilty for accusing his best friend. That was until Harry muttered, "I only said you were dating the smartest girl in school; I didn't say _which_ _one_!"

Furious, Ron dropped his robes and wrestled Harry to the ground. Harry laughed hysterically as Ron beat him up.

One random day, Harry was catching up on some Transfiguration in the Great Hall, when he heard a giggle near him. He watched two Ravenclaw girls giggle; nearby two Hufflepuff boys were talking rapidly. Then, they walked over to the two girls and spoke to them. Harry watched as each girl nodded her head. The two boys smiled and then walked away. The girls giggled yet again as they left.

Harry sighed. This was awful. He had to to this masquerade thing and sit there; knowing his date would never show up. 'Why did it have to turn out this way?' he worried.

"Uh, umm, hi Ha-ha Harry." A tiny voice piped from behind him.

As though waking from a bad dream, Harry turned around to find a short, mousy looking, blonde haired girl. She couldn't be more than a forth year.

"Hi." Was all he said, confused.

She folded her hands together and played with them nervously, "I came over here to ask you, umm, I wanted to know if, uh, oh-"

Seeing she couldn't say it, Colin Creevey popped out of no where and told him, "Hiya Harry! This is my little sister, Carling Creevey. I was helping encourage her to ask you to the dance next week. But, as you can see, she's kind of nervous!"

Harry looked back at the girl. She looked so nervous she might wet her pants.

Suddenly, a flash of Colin's camera jumped at Harry along with the question from Colin, "So, will you go with her?"

Harry didn't know what to say; or how to say it. Thinking of nothing, he lied, "Oh, sorry, I already have a date!"

Carling gave a little sigh of relief and began to retreat, but her brother persisted, "Really? Who are you going with?"

"Uh," 'Oh shit, now you're stuck!' Harry thought, "Well, it's not really your business Colin. I-"

"You can't be serious?" Colin exclaimed almost shockingly.

"What?" Harry felt as though a giant insect were on his face.

But then, Colin came out with it, "You think she'll make it through? After being cursed by- He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

Harry took a breath. He couldn't believe his ears. Then and there, something inside him snapped, "HOW DARE YOU! How dare you say that to me! Of course she's going to make it! She's going to be fine; you're wrong!"

So enraged he forgot his books, Harry stormed out of the Great Hall. Everyone in the room was dead silent. Colin was almost in tears; he didn't mean to upset _the_ Harry Potter. And well, his sister did get 'that nervous'.

He ran as fast as he could to the Hospital Wing. And when he got there, he found a few students in for the minor injuries and innocent spells they cast on one another. However, Harry didn't notice. He ran straight back to the dark blue curtains.

When he went through, he found Dr. Gatsby and Dumbledore there; as though they were waiting for him.

"Harry; we were wondering when you would come in." Dumbledore said.

Heading straight for the Doctor, Harry looked at him square in the eye, "Alright, it's been six months Doctor. _Six months_. What have you figured out? Do you know what's wrong with her? How to fix her maybe?"

"Harry, please." Dumbledore reasoned.

"No Headmaster. I'm sorry. Look, I need your answers. And I need them _right now_!"

The dark Russian man sighed, not changed his emotionless face, "I'm sorry. But whatever He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did to her is a very powerful curse. There is nothing more I can do for her."

"You mean nothing you ever did for her!" Harry raged.

"Harry, stop!" Dumbledore put Harry's arms down; which were almost going to strangle the egotistical doctor.

He took a hard, deep breath and looked up gravely into the headmaster's eyes.

Comfortingly, Dumbledore said, "We may still be able to help her. I have Madeye Moody along with the other aurors looking for all the wanted death eaters and Peter Pettigrew. When they find them, they will find out what Voldemort did to Delphine. I assure you they would have been informed by now of what he has been up to."

Harry calmed down a little bit, and looked back at Gatsby, "Sorry," but in an unconvincing tone.

The doctor rolled his eyes and put on his coat muttering, "Ugh, teenagers!" just before he left them.

"Goodbye Doctor and thank you." Dumbledore shook his hand.

"Make sure you tell the Daily Prophet that I did everything I could that even the best magical doctors could not Albus!" he gave a scruffy laugh, and then left.

Looking back at Harry, he patted him on the back and said, "Let's take a walk Harry."

But Harry couldn't do it, "No Headmaster; I don't want any more lectures or words or wisdom or even someone to talk to or be with. I'd just rather deal with this on my own terms. I hope you can understand that."

Dumbledore was not at all surprised by his response. With a small but polite smile, he replied, "As you wish Harry. I understand completely. Just know that if you need anything; there are always those who love you that will be there for you. No matter when you need them."

On March 21st, it was slightly warmer than usual for the beginning of spring, but no one seemed to notice with all the craziness going on within the walls. Decorations were being finished, food was brought out, and kids were frantically getting ready for the ball or masquerade or dance or-

"Or whatever the bloody hell you want to call the blimey thing!" Ron said as he fixed his bow tie.

Harry wiped off his glasses and put them back on. Looking at himself in the mirror, he felt he looked exactly the same as the last time he wore the black tux at the Yule Ball. Only this time, his hair was longer and he was taller and he had a stupid mask.

Moving Harry over a bit, Ron looked at his final self in complete horror and disgust, "Harry, look at me! I'm like a fluffy piece of cotton candy or a, a-"

"Cute little blue bird ready to sing along with all the other woodland creatures?" Harry mocked.

Ron frowned lower than before, and brushed his red hair out of his face, "What is Hermione going to say? What if she doesn't say anything? What if she sees me and turns right back around and shuts her door? She may never even talk to me again; she would feel so embarrassed! And she should be just look at how re-"

"-remarkable you look! Ron, seriously, it's not that bad! Now come on, I'm sure she's been waiting for us ten minutes ago!" Harry nearly pushed Ron out the door.

Still trying to convince him, Harry argued with Ron and the way out of the boys' dormitory. But just as they came out, so did Hermione from across the way at the girls' dorm.

All three of them stopped and looked at each other. Hermione looked so happy. Ron was just in awe. And Harry, well, Harry got instantly why Ron's robes looked like they did.

Hermione wore a baby blue gown with slim white lace at the trims. Her hair was beautifully curled and pinned back away from her face. She had white flowers in her hair, and a white mask.

Ron didn't even notice that he and Hermione had the same mask, along with matching outfits. All he said was, "Whoa!"

She smiled even bigger and took his arm, "Oh, you look wonderful Ron; as do you Harry!"

Harry smiled at them both and let them walk in front of him all the way to the Great Hall. This was their night; they should enjoy it. 'Someone should.' He thought.

However, as he followed them down the hallways, he stopped. Turning his head towards the left, he saw the doors to the Hospital Wing.

Moving back the dark blue curtains, Harry was glad that there was no one else in the room. Just her; lying there unconscious. She didn't look peaceful, but she didn't look like she was in great pain. She was just hanging on. Pulling up the chair next to her bed, Harry took out Delphine's necklace from his pocket. He saw her father's initials on the onyx side, and hers on the amethyst.

Gazing at her, Harry couldn't even begin to describe her beauty. Even though she had laid there for almost half a year, she still had that glow about her. Harry couldn't help but notice her tinny little braids scattered about her head. She was so strong; how did she stay so strong? Harry's head dropped soberly

"You should be down there tonight; you never got to make it to your ball!" a few tears ran down his cheeks.

He looked around the room as though to find an answer, "Why is it that no one believes you'll live through this except me? That's how it feels! I know you can fight this I know it; why can't you just let me help you? God, let me help you Delphine; I want you to stay here with me. You're not ready to leave yet; I'm not ready for you to leave."

Harry got out of his chair and close to her face so that she could hear him; he was sure that she could, "I will not give up on you Del. I'm going to save you if it's the last thing I do in this world! I love you so much!"

Everything else was forgotten to him now. All he could see was her; that's all there was in his mind. He closed his eyes and held his lips to hers longingly. And with a deep breath, he pulled away.

Minutes passed. It seemed like forever. But, nothing happened. Not one thing. Taking a sigh, Harry stood straight up, "Wake up Del; wake up for me."

Slowly, Harry walked out of the wing and shut the doors behind him. He walked down the barren hallways alone in darkness. It was all over for him.

He didn't know why, but Harry's feet took him to the Great Hall. When he arrived, he found himself in vibrant colors and happy faces. The Great Hall looked like a bright and beautiful forest with flowers everywhere. A river cascaded over the hall as couples danced on the masquerade's floor.

Harry sat down at a lone table and noticed Ron and Hermione on the dance floor. They were doing a waltz, and struggling by the looks of things. Ron fumbled everywhere, but Hermione was determined to help him and kept his spirits up about it.

Then, for the first time, Harry saw Ron lean over and kiss Hermione. He had seen them only once before at Christmas, but this was different. It was a true and affectionate kiss. He knew that they cared deeply for each other, and they were friends first.

Just like he and Del. True, it wasn't as long a friendship as theirs, but still, Harry knew he loved her. Sitting there still, Harry looked around the hall. He watched the river flow and found his eye catching attention at the top of the Great Hall. It was the wall that Delphine used to watch everyone dance at the Yule Ball two years ago. She had shown him the memory in her pensive.

Feeling as though he might find some comfort there, Harry left the Great Hall and took the passage up to that spot. Finding the wall, he used Delphine's spell to reveal everyone dancing below in the Great Hall.

Harry felt like a mess. He remembered being up there with Del as they watched their past selves in everything that night.

"Whenever I look at you, I feel like somehow, I connect with you. I feel that if I came up to you tonight, and said what was on my mind, you'd understand me."

Closing his eyes, Harry felt as though Delphine's words to him that night were actually being said by her then and now. It did feel like he could hear her; _really_.

Without moving, without even opening his eyes, Harry let out a scared, "God, am I going crazy? Or did I just hear the words I've waited so long to hear?"

He waited for a reply.

"Oh you crazy boy."

Harry whipped his head around. His green eyes nearly jumped from his sockets. He couldn't believe it. There she was, wearing the same clothes from the very night she was nearly killed, was his Delphine.

She didn't smile, but only looked at him worriedly and curiously, "Harry, I know you are mad at me but I never meant to hurt you. I lov-"

But before she finished, Harry grabbed her and took her to him, kissing her hungrily. Immediately, she accepted it and kissed him back.

Holding his hand, Delphine looked at Harry nervously, "I don't think I can do this; I'm not even wearing a gown!" She admitted.

Gliding his free hand along her face, he said, "Del, you deserve this."

And before the clock stuck twelve, Harry walked Delphine into the Great Hall and onto the dance floor. One by one, people began to notice that she was there; that she was really _there_.

The band stopped playing when they stood in the middle of the floor. Everyone stared at her like she was a ghost.

Nervously, Delphine whispered to him, "Well, I guess I'm popular again."

Harry glanced at the band, which started up right away. He moved Delphine across the floor smoothly. It was awkward at first, since everyone was staring at them. But Harry's eyes captured her amber ones, and they could do nothing but smile and laugh as they danced.

Slowly, Ron and Hermione came onto the floor and began dancing with them. Afterwards, others joined in. The mood became even more delightful than ever before.

A few moments later, Delphine noticed one of the floating signs at the entrance of the Great Hall reading, 'March Masquerade'.

Leaning over to Harry's ear, she asked himshocked, "Harry, what year is this?"


	13. It's All Coming Back

Confused by her response, Harry turned his head to what she was staring at. When he saw the sign reading 'March Masquerade', he looked back at her worried, "It's March Delphine; you've been unconscious for six months. From the end of summer to the beginning of spring, today."

Comprehending his words rather disturbed, Delphine stopped moving on the dance floor completely. She closed her eyes, '_six months!'_ she thought to herself. Sweating, Delphine wiped her forehead and began breathing heavily.

Harry placed his hand on her face and said, "Del, are you alright? You're burning up."

Delphine tried to focus on the room around her, but she grew light-headed and everyone began to look fuzzy. Seeing his face, Delphine struggled to stay awake, "Harry."

Giving up, she closed her eyes and fell to the floor. The music stopped. Harry leaned over and tried to waken her, "Del? Del! Oh God, not again!"

Frantically, he picked her up and carried her out of the ball. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were right at his heals. Taking Hermione by the hand, Ron wasn't too far behind.

Back at the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey placed a cool towel on Delphine's forehead. Looking at the worried faces, she stated confidently, "She just fainted. Probably a relapse from the state she's been in for this past half year. Besides being weak, she is alright; she hasn't gone into unconsciousness again I assure you."

She patted Harry on the back and left him along with the professors and Ron and Hermione. Harry sat down on the side of her bed and held her hand in his, "Del?"

Slowly, Delphine opened her eyes, "Hey," she looked at Harry contentedly. Then, she noticed the other four in the room, "Oh, hey as well."

Ron and Hermione smiled, as well as Professor McGonagall. However, Dumbledore's worried expression grew stronger, "I know you are very weak right now Delphine, but I need you to tell me what happened to you from the moment Voldemort placed that spell unknowingly onto you, up until this very moment."

Delphine nodded. The rest of the group was very curious as to what did happen to her. Delphine took a drink of water as the rest conjured up what might have happened in their heads.

_I hope she has not been in Voldemort's own twisted mind_, Dumbledore thought.

_He could have just erased what had happened to her while unconscious,_ was McGonagall's contemplation.

_She might have been locked in a small room with nothing to eat and no way to escape!_ Hermione feared.

_Spiders! He left her alone with spiders everywhere!_ Ron's heart was pacing.

Harry looked at Delphine, seeing her well, and thought only, _Whatever he did to her, he will pay._

Placing her glass down, Delphine took a deep breath, "When you told me it had been six months of me lying in this very bed, I wouldn't have believed you. That night when Harry was battling Voldemort, I was over by the lake. When I heard shouting, I ran towards the voices. I quickly heard Harry calling me. And then, I found Harry just as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named approached him.

"I didn't know what to do; or how to help Harry. But, I grabbed my wand and began running towards them anyway. And then, as I got near, I saw he had Harry cornered and was about to kill him, so I thought. Even though you were mad at me Harry, I cared too much for you to lose you. And then I leapt. It felt like a bolt of lightening struck me.

"I blacked out. And when I awoke, I found myself alone. I was in a dark, grey forest. I still had my wand, and I still looked like me. But, I wasn't in the Forbidden Forest. There were no birds, no animals, no sign of life anywhere. Only then did I hear it. That low, monstrous roar.

"To this day I don't know what that thing was, but it was giant, black, and breathed smoke everywhere it went. Thorns were on very single tree branch and bush. There were swamps surrounding the forest; as far as the eye could see. I had no where to run to. All I did was run; I ran even after my heart felt like it exploded with pain. But every day, something happened. I found a cave that I could hide in. I went inside and laid down. And when I closed my eyes. Whenever I did, I could hear your voice Harry. However, on the third day, I heard my mothers'. That was the only time, however.

"And then, on the sixth day, I awoke from the cave, hearing the monster's roar. I ran out and saw him chasing after me. He got close enough to scratch my back. I fell. When I opened my eyes, the grey smoke was all around me. But then, I heard something. I heard your voice Harry. You appeared and took me by the hand. There was a flash of white light. That's when I opened my eyes for the first time. For real.

"I found myself here, in the Hospital Wing. I got up, walked down the hallways. Then, I found myself standing above the Great Hall. I heard music being played, and was about to go down and find you all. But then, I saw you. I thought I was dreaming again, but when I came towards you, it felt real. God, I hope this is all real."

Harry held her hand even tighter, "It is real."

Astonished, Dumbledore remarked, "You were in this world for six days Delphine?"

"I believe I was. You see, whenever I found the cave, I would go in and mark on the wall, as to count the days. On the day I heard the monster outside, there were six markings. I only wrote six. But it felt like each day was as long as a lifetime."

Dumbledore walked over to a window and pondered, "Six days over six months. Voldemort wanted the victim to feel like it was an eternity in his warped world."

"That still doesn't explain how she got out of her coma," McGonagall said.

"Yes it does." Harry realized.

They all turned to him and listened, "I kissed her before I went to the masquerade. I kissed her and her body didn't go into seizures like every other time she was touched. She didn't even flinch."

Dumbledore nodded knowingly, "It is just like your first year, isn't it Harry? Your love was so strong that when you touched Professor Quirrell's face, he burned and died with his evil. Here, you used your love for her to cure her with that simple touch of a kiss."

McGonagall let out a small gasp. Ron and Hermione's faces were falling of shock and surprise. Delphine stared at Harry curiously, not knowing this about him before. And Harry, well, Harry couldn't believe it himself.

"So, you're saying that I have magical powers, just by using my hands?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore nodded, "In the worst of times, you can use it for great good, I believe."

Ron held in a chuckle, but Hermione heard it and glared at him, "What?" she whispered.

He grinned, "Harry's got the 'magic touch'!"

Two days later, Harry was walking Delphine back to the Gryffindor common room. It was her first time since going back since she ran away the year earlier.

"It's a good thing I was a year ahead in Potions; otherwise, I'd be bombarded with even more work!" Delphine dreadfully moped.

"Don't worry; I'll help you catch up. You're a quick thinker; I know you'll pick it up in no time."

Harry smiled encouragingly. Delphine looked up at him lightheartedly, "I think all this time away from me has driven you to the conclusion that I am absolutely perfect and can do no wrong. Now what planted that in your brain?"

Harry said the secret word to open the pink lady's portrait, and they stepped through. Then, he took Delphine in his arms and replied, "Oh nothing; just the fact that you risked your life to save me. That you were tortured in Voldemort's messed up dimension just because you couldn't bear letting me go through that. Besides all that, I can't think of a thing!"

Delphine smiled, "Oh right, you know what this means don't you?"

Harry shook his head flirtatiously, "No, I don't."

"It means that you owe me; and you owe me big Potter."

They leaned towards each other, and then, a blast of a party marker rattled through their ears. Jerking their heads apart, Harry and Delphine looked into the common room to see everyone gathered there.

Balloons filled the room along with more party makers, cake, and lots of smiling faces. There was a banner that read, 'Welcome Back Delphine!'

Surprised, Delphine gasped, "You did all this for me?" looking at Harry.

"Del, I wish I did; but I had no clue!" he replied, watching Ron and Hermione walk towards them.

"We put it together Delphine." Hermione confronted them.

"Yeah, now that you're finally done with the Hospital Wing and back in our lives, we thought we could celebrate a little!" Ron answered, and then blew a noise maker.

Annoyed, Harry took the noise maker from Ron and threw it away. Ron gave him an evil glare.

"You guys didn't need to do this for me; there was a ball just the other night, aren't you done with partying?" Delphine asked concerned.

Just then, Neville popped out from behind her and exclaimed, "Delphine, you deserve to have a party, _trust me_. After that horrid place you had to go through, why not celebrate?"

He handed her and Harry some pumpkin juice and Hermione turned on some music. Everyone dance and laughed, but most importantly, came up and spoke to Delphine. Harry hung out with Ron for a while; watching Delphine being approached by so many excited people. Even though the old snooty Dellie was gone, there was still apart of Delphine that loved the attention. She just needed some encouragement from her friends.

Later that night, Hermione, Ron and Neville were just finishing cleaning up the mess from the bash. When they were done, they walked up the stairs and Ron called behind him, "Goodnight Waldgrave, goodnight Potter!"

"Goodnight Weasley!" the two called back as they sat by the fireplace.

Delphine took a sip of pumpkin juice, and then told Harry, "This is the most fun I've had in a long time!"

Harry chuckled, "Well, you deserved it above everyone else I know."

She nodded, putting her drink down. She snuggled closer to Harry on the couch. Then, realizing something, she asked, "What changed your mind?"

"Huh?" Harry asked, gazing at the fire.

"You told me you never wanted to see me again because you believed I was trying to kill you; that I poisoned you. Then why did you come looking for me in the woods?"

"Well, for starters, you saved my life Del." He answered.

"No, that doesn't explain it. I mean, before I saved you life in the forest. Why did you come after me? Were you planning on killing me? This all seems a little hazy to me."

Harry understood and replied, "Oh, that's right! Um, I had a talk with Dumbledore actually. I don't think he believed you were trying to kill me, and he just talked to me. When he left, I realized something. You tried to tell me you loved me, and that you weren't behind the attempted murder on me. And then, I realized that I believed you and that I loved and still love you very much. So, I set out looking for you; to bring you back to Hogwarts."

"Oh Harry," Delphine grinned.

Harry placed his hands on his face, "I was a fool for believing you were the one who poisoned my Draught of Peace. I am sorry; I know it'll take a long time to make my mistake up to you. But, I'll do what I can."

She smiled and kissed him gently on the lips. Delphine parted from him, to look in his eyes, but Harry pulled her back and kissed her passionately. Slowly, he laid down on top of her and held her as close to him as he could. He wanted to be full of her; to never lose her scent on him. Delphine moaned lightly as she placed her hands on his back.

Aroused, Harry could feel himself digging into her. He never felt so good in his whole life.

Delphine kissed him happily, thinking of what he had just told her. However, she opened her eyes unexpectedly, _the Draught of Peace!_ She thought.

Urgently, she sat up, pulling Harry up with her. She parted their lips and stood up.

Harry didn't expect this to happen, "What's wrong?"

"The Draught of Peace! Harry! Do you remember that night that I was accused of trying to murder you?"

"Yes. Can we talk about this later?" Harry took her hand and tried to bring her back to him.

But she pulled away and grabbed her coat, "No! Harry, we have to get to the library, now! You know now that I wasn't the one that tried to kill you; but someone else was!"

Still stubborn, Harry argued, "It was just Voldemort; he tried it when I went after you too remember? There's nothing else to it. Now come on, come back to the fire."

"No, I don't think _he_ was behind the poison Harry. I need your help, come on!"

Harry groaned and grabbed his invisibility cloak.

"Good idea, now let's go!" Delphine whispered.

As Harry got under the cloak, he thought, _it's a good thing I have this invisibility thing; otherwise, Del would get so mad!_


	14. Endlessly

**Author's Note:** Here's the very last chaper of my story. I hope my faithful readers (reader) enjoyed it, lol. Anyways, I loved putting this together, check me out around this website, I'm starting another story very soon! FairytaleDreamer

* * *

Later that night, in the library, Harry was looking through potions books; yawning. 

"Del, I'm tired. Can't we pick this up again tomorrow?"

However, she kept skimming through the textbooks muttering out, "Tomorrow _they_ could strike again Harry; we have to find this now before there's no time left. I may not be around next time you have a cross with whoever is the accomplice of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!"

Harry was about to go back to searching, but he was too bothered by her words, "Why do you say that?"

Curiously, she looked up at him for the first time in hours, "Say what?"

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. You never did before; now all of a sudden it's like you're afraid of-"

"Afraid of him Harry? Well, to tell you the truth yeah, now I am. Never in my whole life did I ever see him; or even a picture of him. But that night Harry, everything changed. I saw his dark eyes before he sent me to that ugly place. I think if I had been there any longer; I would've gone mental, or died from the monster whichever came first!"

"Oh," Harry felt stupid for asking. Of course she could bear to say Voldemort's name; he had tortured her. This enraged Harry; he frantically searched through the book anxious to find something-

Surprising Harry, Del's smooth hand came across his face, turning his head towards her. She was kneeling next to him, with a concerned look on her face.

"Harry, no matter who you are, you have fear in your heart. It's apart of being a wizard. When the time comes, and there seems to be nothing you can do to stop the evil, you must accept that fear. If you embrace it, you can use it to defeat whatever is before you; or behind you in some cases."

Harry smiled a little; but all he could think of was loosing her all over again. Taking her, he placed her in his lap and moved her long brunette hair behind her ear. Gazing into her amber eyes, he promised her, "I've been hopeless without you in my life Del. I love you endlessly. Hopelessly, I'll give you everything you could ever want. But I won't give you up; I won't let you down. And I swear I won't leave you falling. Not ever again."

Dropping her head to hide a tear of happiness, Delphine replied, "I love you so much Harry!" and she fell into his arms.

He held her as tightly as he could; he'd be damned if Voldemort tried to take her away from him again.

Del sighed with great relief in his embrace. Opening her eyes, she glanced over his shoulder towards the desk. Quickly, she gasped and let go of him.

Surprised, Harry said, "What is it? What did you find?"

Delphine leaned over and showed him the page, "The Ambritous Potion is one of the deadliest potions created by a wizard or witch. It contains this and this, that, uh huh, okay, oh-my-God!"

"What? What is it?" Harry asked.

Looking at him, she placed her hands on his shoulders and asked gravely, "Harry, you have to tell me exactly what you remember seeing when you took that last bit of Draught of Peace in the woods before the Lethifold approached!"

"Uh," Harry tried to think, but it was so long ago, "All I saw was a black figure; I don't remember how tall or short. And they were speaking Parseltounge; but it was too difficult to make out what they were saying. Why, do you know who's behind it all?"

"I'm trying to think. I remember that day when I was making the Peace Potion for you. I was alone in the Dungeon after Potions' Class. I added everything in and then, I remember Draco Malfoy coming in. He called me a few pathetic names and then asked me about a certain potion. He hadn't taken all the notes in class to he asked me to read out mine. I went to my desk and read it out to him, just to get him out of there. When I finished, he quickly left the room.

"It was unusual, and I suspected he added something to my potion. So, I checked it for any unusual behavior but the Peace, and there was nothing so I went on making it. However, in this book it says that one ingredient to an Ambritous Potion is Erumpet's blood; its blood is so powerful it can make any potion seem undetectable of the poison planted there. Draco must've slipped it in when I was reading the notes-"

"Meaning he's Voldemort's accomplice!" Harry declared.

'Finally! I have proof that he's evil just like his father!' Harry thought to himself.

"We have to get him to confess; tonight!" Harry stated.

"Right, but we'll need help from both people and potions. You run back to the dorm and get Ron and Hermione; I'll jet over to the potions' ingredients closet and start working on a truth serum! Meet me at the closet in no more than ten minutes, got it?"

"Right!" Harry nodded and they both ran out of the library.

However, before they parted ways, Harry stopped and called, "Del!"

She turned and came back to him, "What is it?"

"This is the first time you'll be leaving me since you woke up; I just want to be sure you'll be alright." He gave her his father's invisibility cloak.

She took it and looked up to him, "Even if something happens; focus on what you need to do Harry."

Hesitating a moment, she kissed him gently on the lips and ran down the East corridor. Watching her disappear out of thin air as she put on the cloak, Harry turned and ran back to the Gryffindor room.

"Ron, get up and get you're girl!" Harry pushed his friend out of bed.

Rubbing his eyes, he complained, "What goin' on Harry? It's the middle of the night!"

"I have proof that Malfoy is behind my attempted assignation; all we have to do is get him to confess. We have to meet Delphine at the potions' closet in a few minutes. Get your wand and get a move on!"

Suddenly, Ron felt wide awake, "Pin Malfoy for murder? Oh, I hoped this day would come; it feels like Christmas!"

He pulled on his sweater and ran out of the dorm with Harry behind. Holding out his wand in front of the girls' dorm, Ron whispered, "Hermione; wake up now!"

Not a moment later, Hermione busted out of the girls' room with messy hair and circles under her eyes, "This better be important!"

"Oh, it is; get your wand and let's go!" Harry whispered.

Five minutes later, they ran up to the potions' closet. Harry opened it, but found no Delphine.

"Fuck no!" Harry couldn't believe it; she was gone.

"Wait Harry, it's alright, look!" Ron pulled out the Marauder's Map, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"

Revealing the map, they all searched the castle for Del. Harry thought to himself, 'Focus! You have to think where she might have gone!'

Then, he found her, "There she is!" he pointed at the north tower; where the astronomy classes were taken.

"But why would she be over there is she told you to meet her here?" Hermione asked.

Hearing footsteps, Ron exclaimed, "Oh, I can take a guess that _that's_ why!"

Before they were spotted the trio ran down the hallway towards the North Tower. However, when they reached the stairs to the tower, Harry stopped them.

"I have a bad feeling about this; Ron, check the map again. Is she still up there?"

Ron looked and replied, "Yes. She's alone; there are no other names moving up there; no Voldemort, nothing!"

"Come on Harry, the footsteps are still behind us!" Hermione urged him.

Whipping out his wand, Harry stated, "Let's go!"

They ran up the tall swirling staircase. When they reached the top, he opened the door to the outside slowly and quietly. He peered out over the empty rooftop, finding no one but a figure towards the end. It was Delphine, crouched over near something.

"Delphine, are you alright?" Harry whispered as loudly to her as he could.

"Yes, I'm fine, don't worry!" she replied.

"Are you alone?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," was all she said.

The two ran over to her. However, Harry was more hesitant to it then they were. He looked around, checking the place out. Then, seeing it was clear, he walked closer to them, "Why are you up here Del-"

As he turned his head, a blue flash hit him in the chest. He fell backwards, hitting the door behind him. His chest hurt, but he grabbed his wand and moved closer to them.

Delphine was chained, along with Ron and Hermione now, with Draco Malfoy holding the end of the shackles.

"Nice evening isn't it Potter?" Draco devilishly asked.

"What? How can you be up here?" Harry was confused because the map didn't read Malfoy on the rooftop.

"I was given an interesting spell to take me off your stupid map Potter! And even thought your little girlfriend was in your invisibility cloak; I could still find her when you left her by the library. I heart your plan and knew where she was heading!"

Harry was pissed. His friends were caught, along with his girl. He wouldn't take Malfoy's bull shit any longer.

Using a more powerful spell than Malfoy's Harry struck the chains holding the trio together and burned them off. Ron and Hermione quickly ran, but Draco blasted Ron with a blue flash, knocking him against the wall. He was unconscious. Just before she was out of his grasp, Delphine was caught by Malfoy.

Malfoy put his hand to her neck and held her tightly, "No more games Potter. Don't want to lose her for real this time, do you?"

Hermione quickly flew to Harry's side, holding out her wand. "Don't you dare Malfoy!"

"Oh, I would love to dare; it's just so tempting!" Malfoy said as he ran a hand across Delphine's cheek.

Struggling, she warned him, "Don't touch me you sick freak!"

"It was you who poisoned the Draught of Peace that night; you summoned the Lethifold to Harry and told it to kill him!" Hermione accused the boy.

"Yes and no. As much as I'd like to, I cannot speak Parseltongue. So, Lord Voldemort had to use the only other faithful servant at this school to help me in bringing you down. Honestly, do you really think I'd act alone?"

Just then, the doors behind them burst open. Hermione kept her wand on Malfoy, and Harry turned to face his enemy. His enemy the entire time he was at Hogwarts.

Severus Snape. He swung his black cloak behind him and approached Harry slowly.

"NO! It was you; you were behind it all along! You gave Malfoy the ingredients to put in Delphine's potion. You had the power to bring the Lethifold to school since you're the Defense against the Darks Arts Teacher and you released him into the forest without anyone's knowledge. You spoke parseltongue to the snake to kill me! And when that didn't work; you accused Delphine of it all because she's the only other person smart enough to do it!"

Snape gave Harry one of his evil looks as he always does, "Clearly you are cleverer than you let on in my classes Potter! What a waste you've turned out to be. You and your friends are pathetic!"

With a light flick of his wand, Hermione's wand was forced from her hands and away from her by Snape. Then, she was lifted up in the air by him, unable to move a single bone in her body.

Quickly, Harry struck with Snape with great force. Snape blocked it however, letting Hermione drop back to the ground. Snape and Harry were locked with sparks flying. Quickly, Hermione grabbed her wand and turned to Malfoy.

She narrowed her eyes at him and conjured a spell. Malfoy's face flickered fright for only a second, and he held his wand closer to Delphine.

Hermione, however, was too quick for him. In one great bolt, Malfoy was thrust back against the wall. Delphine, now free, reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the truth serum. She ran towards Malfoy and leaned over his unconscious self.

As she got close, he tricked her and opened his eyes. He grabbed her by the shoulders and stood up. Whispering, he told her, "I will bloody murder you before this night is out!"

Delphine's eyebrows raised and she chuckled, "And I will bloody kick you in the balls before you can cry to mummy!"

However, Malfoy picked her up off the ground before she even moved. Surprised, she said, "You're much stronger than I thought, nice."

And without hesitation, she leaned over and kissed him. Hermione, by Ron's side, gasped. Ron slowly awoke and saw them and quickly screamed, "He's cursed her!"

Draco himself was very shocked of this. But while distracted, Delphine pulled Draco close to her, and kneed him hard in the groin. "AHH!"

He screamed into the night. Malfoy let go of her, and she pulled the cap off of the potion. Quickly, she poured it into his mouth. She waited as he sat on the ground crying.

"You tried to kill Harry Potter didn't you?" She asked, wand at his throat.

Ron watched her, confused, "I have no bloody clue what to make of this girl!"

Struggling, Draco said, "My balls feel like they're on fire!"

Angry, Delphine slapped Draco hard across the face, "NO! Focus Malfoy, you tried to kill Harry, did you not?"

Crying, he screamed out, "Yes! I tried to kill Harry! Lord Voldemort told Snape to get me to help him kill Harry! The Lethifold, the Draught of Peace, everything! Oh God, it burns!"

Satisfied, Delphine pulled her wand away from him, "Good. I'm glad we're in agreement, thank you for playing!"

Quickly, she ran to Hermione and Ron, "You guys have got to get to Dumbledore now! I don't know how long Harry can fight Snape!"

Hermione nodded. But Ron hesitated, "Wait! What about you?"

"I'll be Harry's backup. He'll need it. Now go; I'll cover you!"

The two made a run for it past the dueling Snape and Harry; but they didn't seem to notice. They were still locked in battle with flying sparks. Harry closed his eyes, 'Focus!'

Clenching his fists around his wand even tighter, Harry's wand brought out a great force, overcoming Snape's and causing him to fly backwards. However, before the man hit the doorway, he disappeared.

Harry kept his hand at ready, looking insanely for him. But then, his worst fear came to life, "Behind you Potter!"

Just like Delphine had predicted, Snape was behind Harry, holding the one person who cared for him the most.

Delphine struggled to get free, but Snape warned her calmly but evilly, "Do not move girl; I won't hesitate to send you into the dark like the poor sap of a wizard Draco did!"

She stopped moving, looking at Harry hopelessly. Snape held the wand harder to her neck and ordered Harry, "Drop your wand!"

But Harry wouldn't, he had to be quick. With great force, he tried to hit Snape. In one swift move, Snape blocked it with his hand and put it back to Delphine's neck even harder. Delphine's eyes closed from the pain.

"Drop it now!" Snape yelled.

He did. Snape gave a small chuckle, "How sweet; you and your little girlfriend doomed to an eternity at the Black Island Voldemort so cleverly created for you Potter. I will send you both there and this time, it will take the creature only a mere hour to find you and kill you! Of course, I must be a gentleman and let the lady go first. This is your punishment Potter; you will watch your love die with her as she dies. Lord Voldemort will rise again!"

Harry wouldn't hear it, he couldn't. He closed his fists and eyes, too angry at Snape for all the pain and torture he caused. He was frightened of Snape all six years at Hogwarts, but now, he embraced it. But his anger didn't match his love for his girl, Delphine. No way in Hell would he lose her again, he made a vow.

Looking at Snape, Harry's eyes were a bright orange. Everything on the roof began to shake. Seeing this, Malfoy whimpered and picked up his wand. He summoned his broom quickly and flew away from the roof before it was too late.

Delphine looked at the ground below her, and saw that she wasn't touching it anymore. She, Snape, and Harry were floating just above the floor of the roof. She couldn't believe what she was seeing; the power in Harry's eyes and hands was growing.

Snape let go of Delphine completely now, focusing on guarding himself from whatever Harry was doing. Delphine feel slowly back to the ground and ran back away from the roof towards the door. And there she watched as Harry went higher with Snape.

Harry looked up at the night sky, orange sparks coming from his eyes and fists. And then suddenly, he screamed. He stared Snape down, throwing his hands in front of him. A great flash of orange hit Snape.

He lost his wand and all power, and then fell back off of the roof. Snape yelled as he fell.

But just before he hit the ground, he was stopped and flew back up to the roof. Appearing next to Delphine was Dumbledore. With his wand, he placed Snape back on the roof and put him in unbreakable irons.

Harry floated back onto the roof as well, the orange spark burning out completely. Ron and Hermione watched from behind Delphine, and Ron whispered, "That was wicked!"

Folding her arms, Delphine told them with complete confidence, "I think Voldemort's in for a big surprise when Harry finds him."

Madeye Moody and Remus Lupin ran through the doors, almost knocking the three over. They went over to Snape and held onto him.

"Finally! We've got the culprit behind your attacks here Dumbledore!" Lupin said.

"Wait just a moment gentlemen!" Delphine came up towards the aurors.

She pulled out her wand and flicked it; revealing Malfoy's confessional she beat out of him earlier, "He's not the only one behind this."

The two aurors looked at each other, and then took the wand. "Smart girl; just like you're mother." Remus grinned.

"And she beat the Malfoy kid to get the confession; as rough and stubborn as Astin was!"

Madeye slapped her hard on the back as they left with Snape.

Grinning like an idiot, Ron looked at Snape and said, "You weren't up to the challenge of teaching smart individuals like us were you Snape?"

Almost growling, Snape muttered, "No one could put up a ridiculous challenge to teach you Weasley!"

He chuckled as the men carried him away, but just then, his mouth was zipped shut.

Hermione saw this as they left, and then looked to Ron, narrowing her eyes. Laughing, Ron admitted, "Okay, maybe I learned one or two things this year in Dark Arts. But, it was from a much prettier, sexier teacher!"

She gasped and blushed when he said that, "Ron! Dumbledore is just over there! And besides, don't think you can get away with talking like that to me at any-"

But before she finished, Ron pulled her to him and kissed her. She shut up after that.

Looking at his hands, Harry was in a state of shock, "I can't believe what I just did; I didn't even touch him!"

Dumbledore stood by him, gazing up at the stars, "Oh, I can believe it Harry. From the first moment I laid eyes on you as a baby, I knew you were special."

"But my power, what if I can't control it?" he asked.

He patted the boy on the shoulder, "With my help, and your friends help, you can. I don't believe you will use it for great evil, or revenge. You are much wiser than that."

Harry sighed and looked over at his mentor, "Thanks professor, for, saving him, even though he's evil."

"Of course Harry; he will have greater punishment by having to live out the rest of his life in Azkaban. And we will find Draco; I imagine we will have a long chat."

Just before he left Harry, he chuckled and said to himself, "_The Boy That Lived_. I didn't doubt you for a moment."

Harry smiled at this, and then heard someone else say within his earshot, "I didn't doubt you for a moment either."

He turned around to find the soul person he wanted to see. Grabbing her, Harry pulled her into his arms and held her, "Hey Harry."

Pulling his head back to look at her, Harry told her, "I didn't break my promise."

She grinned, "No, you kept it. I had no doubt you would. Harry, your power; that was incredible!"

Harry thought about it, and then replied, "Yeah, I know, I'm fantastic aren't I?"

"Seriously!" she laughed.

They were silent a moment, and then Harry remembered and narrowed his eyes, "You _kissed_ Malfoy?"

Disgusted herself, she explained, "I know but I had to; it was the only thing to distract him so I could kick him in the nuts!"

Harry sighed, "Alright alright! I understand, you were trying to get him to confess. But did you have to _kiss_ him?"

Raising her eyebrow, she asked, "What? Do you wanna do something about it?"

Lifting her chin to met her eyes, Harry looked at her intensely, "Oh, that and more Del."

Finally, he kissed her. She smiled through the kiss, happy that it was over, for now.

The rest of the year, the gang finished out Hogwarts sure that Voldemort was back to square one. And they didn't need to worry. No one knew it, but he wasn't going to try anything until their seventh and last year at Hogwarts. Harry knew then that he had to face Voldemort one last time. Until that moment, Dumbledore would get him ready, and he would have Ron, Hermione, and Delphine to help him through it.

That summer, the four of them spent a relaxing vacation at Delphine's new home on a crystal lake outside of Italy. The weather was beautiful most days, but there was the occasional day of rain.

Ron and Hermione pursued their relationship still; arguing almost 100 of the time, except when Ron would kiss her and all was well. Delphine commented to Harry that she told him from the start that they would get together. Of course, neither of them suspected they would be together.

One rainy afternoon, Harry was sleeping soundly in his own guest room after a very late night of fun by the lake. Suddenly, he was stirred by a creak in the floor. Knowing who the intruder was, Harry whipped around and pulled Delphine onto the bed with him. She laughed as he tickled her.

"Please stop! Stop!" she gave in.

Stopping, Harry groaned, "Why did you wake me up? I'm exhausted!"

He put his head under his pillow and tried to go back to sleep. However, Delphine's stubbornness wouldn't have that. She pulled his pillow away and hit him with it, "Well, I was going to give you your birthday present since _today_ is your birthday. But, if you really don't want it-"

She began to climb out of bed. But no sooner that she said that did he swing his arms around her and pin her to the bed, "I'm up! Sorry, where is it?"

"You mean where are _they_? I have two gifts for you." She moved her hand a little, but Harry was still holding her down.

"I need one of my arms to give you them!" she told him.

Reluctantly, he let go of her hands and she reached inside her jean pocket to reveal a tiny box. She handed it to him and he opened it carefully. Inside was an amber stone. It had the initials on D.W. on it. Harry flipped it over and saw that the other side was made of ruby which had the initials H.P. on it.

"It's a promise stone. Different from my necklace. It symbolizes the relationship we have and that it'll-"

"-last forever." Harry finished.

Narrowing her eyebrows, she complained, "You know I'm really tired of you finishing all my sentences, why don't you just-"

"-read your mind?" he snickered.

"Very clever. You know, you can be very annoying a lot of the time!"

"What may come off as annoying may really be charming," he whispered in her ear and began to kiss her neck.

"I'm serious; I don't know why I put up with you when you're like this!"

Harry brushed her hair out of her face and looked at her intently, "Because you love me just like I love you."

He kissed her sweetly, and then she groaned, "You see that right there is what gets me every time! I'm hopeless!"

Smiling, he got off her and lay next to her on his bed. Breathing in a peaceful breath, he asked her, "So, when are you going to give me my second gift?"

"Oh, right now I imagine." She told him, stroking his face delicately.

Harry reached over her to put on his glasses, "I'm sure for this one I have to get out of bed and fallow you outside to see the sky, don't I?"

But, she stopped his hand and put it around her waist, "No, you stay right here."

Confused, he looked at her unknowingly, "What is it?"

Before closing her eyes, she whispered, "Me," and kissed him gently but seductively on the lips.

Pulling back a moment, Harry looked at her concerned, "You? Here? Right now?"

"Right now." She confirmed and kissed him again.

He didn't suspect it, and felt overwhelmed with passion by the kiss. He grabbed her waist and pulled her to him forcefully. However, a thought crossed his mind.

"Wait! We can't!" he reluctantly stated.

"Why not?" Delphine asked with her big amber eyes full of desire.

"Because Ron and Hermione are-"

"-gone. They left early this morning with the boat. They aren't going to be back until late tonight."

"Late tonight?" he asked.

She nodded and kissed him again. Then, she looked at him, "Harry, do you not want to? I know if you want to wait longer its fine. I love you; I'd wait forever for you."

But he shook his head, "No. I'm ready. I love you too. Besides, when's the next gorgeous girl going to throw herself at me? That might not happen for at least two months!"

"Are you planning on dumping me Harry Potter?" Delphine asked offended.

"Umm, well, I was giving it some thought." He thought sarcastically.

"Ah!" she sat up and began scrambling out of the bed.

Both laughing, Harry grabbed her and they rolled off the bed. When they stopped rolling, she lay under him and they gazed at each other for a moment. Without a word, they kissed.

A few hours later, Harry opened his eyes. Amber eyes stared back at him.

"Hey," was all he could say.

"Hi," she replied, "How did you sleep?"

"No nightmares." He answered.

"That's a good sign. How are you?"

"Good."

"Do you think we made a mis-"

"Don't even say it. I know we didn't."

"How do you know?" Delphine asked worriedly.

"Because I've never felt more whole until this moment with you."

She smiled at the words, "Good, because that was amazing!"

She blushed when she giggled a little. Harry smiled at her, and kissed her gently.

A little while later, they were fixing some dinner in the kitchen. Just then, Ron and Hermione walked through the front door before the rain outside went nuts.

"Hey," was all the two said.

Harry stood at the stove, grinning. Delphine was grinning too as she chopped carrots by the counter. They could tell what Ron and Hermione had been up to.

Not liking the silence, Hermione walked over and helped Delphine while Ron went to watch Harry cook. They each briefly exchanged stories and smiled a bit.

Later that night, they all sat around the fire place, enjoying each other's company; happy to be living in the moment with the world at their feet.


End file.
